The Young Life of Nick Wilde
by PizzaSteve3902
Summary: Nick Wilde is the greatest con mammal Zootopia has ever seen. We will take a look back at the experiences that made him the way he was, from meeting Finnick, to his first marriage. Prequel to The Rough Life of Nick Wilde.
1. The Initiation - The Play

_Author's Note:_

 _This story will focus mostly on Nick, so Judy's parts will be longer in comparison, but only every so often. I will put the age of Nick or Judy in parenthesis beside the chapter title. The years for their births are based on if Nick was 32, and Judy was 25 or 24 in the movie, and a couple of things in Rough Life effect ages as well. The actual date is purely speculative. The first three chapters will be basically an overview of Nick's life with a few details in the most important parts. After that, it will go into much more detail._

 _Prologue:_

 _June 12, 1982:_

"It's a boy!" the doctor said as the little fox kit was born in the free health clinic.

"Did you hear that honey? A boy!" the excited father, Jeff Wilde said.

"I know! It's wonderful!" the mother, Marie Wilde said.

Later, as the parents were in their room, Marie was holding the child, and the doctor came in.

"What's the child's name?" the doctor asked.

"Nicolas Piberius Wilde," Jeff said.

"Good name. I will have the birth certificate finished soon," the doctor said, then left.

The two Wilde parents went back to their home in Savannah Central later that week, with their new son, Nick.

 _October 12, 1990:_

"It's quadruplets!" the doctor said as the four baby bunnies were born.

"What are they?" asked the father, Stuart Hopps.

"Two girls, and two boys," the doctor replied.

Later, the parents were in their room, each holding two bunnies.

"This one will be Judy, this one Janet, him James, and he will be John," Stuart said, who had a feeling something was different about Judy, but ignored it.

 _Chapter 1: The Initiation (5 – 9) – The Play (9)_

 _(Nick)_

"How do I use this?" asked the little five year old fox kit, holding a cassette tape.

"Let me show you, son," his mother said. "Press the stop button on the stereo, then put the tape in like this. Then close it and hit play."

His mother showed him how to use it some more, then he was using it like a master DJ within thirty minutes.

Nick had been given a new stereo and several tapes for his birthday yesterday, and he was really excited. He couldn't wait to show his father he learned how to use the gifts he was given.

When Jeff arrived home, there was some mixed emotions in the mail.

At dinner, Jeff tried to explain to his son what this meant.

"Son. How was your day?" Jeff asked.

"Good! I learned to use the stereo I got!" Nick replied.

"That's great. Look, I need to go away for a few months, but you will still be here with your mother, ok?"

"But why?"

"The Army has drafted me in. They are in dire need of officers, so they looked for the most officer-like mammals around. Apparently, I am officer-like."

"What's 'drafted' mean?"

"It means they picked him to be on their team," Marie said.

"Right," Jeff said.

"Oh, ok," Nick said.

The next day, Jeff Wilde left to go begin training for the Army. At the time, Nick did not know that this was the beginning of the end of the norm. Jeff, after training, signed a twenty year, active duty contract. He signed it because the pay he would receive would be plenty to support his family. He would receive one leave a year to go see his family.

Over a few years, Nick grew up little by little, but Jeff didn't see him much. One day, when Nick was eight, he was at school, and he finally got the courage to talk to the only other fox in the school, Finnick.

"Hello. My name's Nick. What's yours?" Nick asked during lunch.

"Finnick."

"I like that name. What do you do for fun?"

"I like to cook."

"Cook?"

"Yeah. You know, where you put the ingredients together and you get yummy food?"

"I know what cooking is. I like to play ball."

"I do too."

That was the beginning of a long friendship. When Nick was walking home from school that day, he saw a zebra foal with a uniform on that looked interesting. Nick walked up to him.

"Excuse me, but what are you wearing?" Nick asked.

"I am wearing a Junior Ranger Scout uniform. The Junior Rangers go on camping trips, learn cool things, and more. And we are all part of a pack," the zebra said, answering the question Nick didn't ask, too.

"That sounds fun!"

"It is, but you need a uniform, and you need to know the rules."

"I can get those!"

"Good luck," the zebra said sarcastically, then walked off.

When Nick got home, he was so excited.

"Mom! Mom! I have two things I want to tell you!"

"What are they, Nicky?"

"I met another fox at school named Finnick! He's really cool and we're friends now!"

"That's wonderful!"

"And I want to be a Junior Ranger Scout!"

When Nick said that, his mother's ears went down, and she looked sad.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Nothing. If you want to be a Junior Ranger Scout, I will help you become one. Always try to be more than everyone thinks you are."

"What does that mean?"

"It means don't be the stereotype."

"What's a stereotype? Is it like a stereo tape?"

"No," his mother said, chuckling. "You'll learn when you're older."

So, Nick's mother scraped enough money together to buy Nick a brand new uniform, because by God, he would be a part of a pack. It took almost a year to get the money for the uniform, but Marie got it all. When Nick tried the uniform on, he was so proud, his mother was, too. Nick had learned all the rules he needed to know to get in, and Marie signed Nick up. When the time came for initiation, Nick walked proudly up into the building. Nick didn't care the rest of the members were all prey.

"Ok, Nick. Ready for initiation?" asked the chipmunk member.

"Yeah! Pretty much born ready!" Nick replied as he stepped into the room.

The chipmunk snapped his fingers, and the lights went out. A flashlight was turned on in Nick's face. Nick got used to the light, then looked at the chipmunk.

"Now raise your right paw, and deliver the oath," the chipmunk said.

Nick did, then began.

"I, Nicolas Wilde, promise to be brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy!"

The chipmunk looked over at the others, then back at Nick. "Even though you're a fox?"

"What?" Nick asked, dumbfounded. Suddenly, the light went out, and he was pushed to the ground. "What did I do wrong, you guys!? Tell me, what did I do wrong!?"

The chipmunk put a muzzle on the poor little fox kit, and started laughing like the others were.

"If you ever thought we would trust a fox without a muzzle, you're even dumber than you look!" the chipmunk said.

Nick got up and ran out of the building, just as it started to rain. Nick tried to get the muzzle off, but he couldn't. He tried lifting the strap over his head, and it came off. Nick threw the muzzle onto the street and started to sob. He sat on the sidewalk and cried for thirty minutes. During that time, he developed a new outlook on life, and a motto.

 _If the world is only going to see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else._

And his new motto,

 _Never let them see that they get to you._

Nick slowly walked home that night, not wanting to talk about what happened.

When he got home, his mother seemed to know exactly what had happened, so she never said a word to Nick.

The next day, at school, the only person Nick would talk to was Finnick.

"Dude! What is wrong with you?" Finn asked.

Nick had an almost expressionless face on.

"I tried to do something last night," Nick said.

"You joined the Ranger Scouts! Awesome! Let's celebrate!" Finn said, dancing around.

"But I didn't get in!" Nick yelled as he grabbed Finnick's arm.

"What? You knew all of the rules better than anyone else!" Finn said, yanking his arm away from Nick.

"But I'm not-" Nick started, then covered his eyes and walked away.

"Not a what?" Finnick asked.

"Just leave me alone!" Nick said, then ran off out of the school, and back to his home.

 _(Judy)_

"Can you come here and help me, Judy?" asked Stuart Hopps, who was in the machine barn, working on one of the tractors.

"Ok!" little nine year old Judy said, skipping over to her father. "What do you need, Daddy?"

"Can you hand me that vise grip over there?"

"Ok!" Judy looked at the toolbox, but didn't know what a "vise grip" was, or what it did, so she grabbed the first thing she saw and handed it to Stu.

Stu chuckled and handed the tool back to Judy. "Judy, this is a screwdriver. This is a vise grip," Stu said, picking up the vise grip from the toolbox.

"Oh!" Judy looked back into the toolbox. "Do you need this?" Judy asked, pointing to another tool.

"That is a hammer drill, and no, I do not need it," Stu said, going back to work on the tractor's diesel engine.

"Judy!" yelled Bonnie Hopps from the door to the barn they were in.

"Coming!" Judy said as she skipped over to her mother.

"Can you go tell Jacob to come in for lunch?"

"Ok!" Judy skipped out of the barn and went to the edge of the carrot field. She started jumping and waving, trying to get her brother's attention. The large articulated 4x4 tractor in the field stopped, and the bunny inside it climbed out and walked over to Judy.

"What's going on, Judy?" Jacob asked.

"Mommy said it's time for lunch!"

"Oh man! I was so caught up in disking the field, I guess I lost track of time! Let me go turn the tractor off and I'll be in soon." Jacob turned and went back to the tractor and turned it off, and followed Judy back home.

After lunch, Jacob continued disking the carrot field, and Stu went back to work on the broken-down tractor.

Judy was sitting in the shade of a tree near the barn her dad was in. She was thinking about the farm life.

 _Farm life is great, but I wish there was some excitement._ Judy thought. _There is very little adventure on the farm. Sure, there is a lot of fun things to do, but nothing overly super exciting. What could I do that has more excitement, adventure, and fun? And what can I do to make the world a better place?_

The next school day, Judy was in class, preparing for the Carrot Days Festival school play.

"Thousands of years ago, the world was a dangerous place," said a voice, while a young dear wandered around a jungle. "A world where predator and prey didn't get along." A cougar followed the young deer. "A place where savage beasts lurked in every shadow." The cougar leapt up and revealed that this was all on a stage in a play. The cougar fake attacked the deer with his big stuffed paw gloves, and the deer fell down, pulling red ribbons out and handing them to the cougar, who pretended to eat the "intestines."

"Blood! Blood! Blood! And death! And that is why I'm glad I live today, because back then, I would be lunch," the young deer said, still lying on the ground.

There was a lone clapping sound. "Good job, good job," the armadillo teacher said as the deer pulled a squeaky heart out and handed it to the cougar, who put it in his mouth. "Ok, that's enough. That's very graphic. Thank you, you are fine, and, please pick up your intestines."

The deer and cougar walked over to the seats, and sat down next to young Judy. "Hey! That was great! You had me at 'blood,'" Judy said.

"Ok! Melody mammals, you're up next! Rory, Woody, Sally, and Judy," the teacher said, as she started to play the piano.

 _What do we love about our city?_

 _That's why we sing this little ditty._

 _We'll all be what we want to be,_

' _Cause you told me about this opportunity!_

 _I want to work with wood, because I'm a woodchuck, sang Woody._

 _I'm a raccoon, so I'm gonna drive a trash truck, sang Rory_

 _And squirrels like me wanna sell some nuts, sang Sally._

 _And I'm a bunny so…_

Judy stopped singing as the teacher continued playing.

"I wanna grow carrots!" the teacher whispered.

"But, I don't want to grow carrots," Judy said, and everyone moaned.

"Judy! What is your problem?" one student asked.

"What? I don't!" Judy said as the teacher walked up to her.

"Everyone take a five," the teacher said. "Judy, it's, it's just a song."

"Well, it makes it sound that since I'm a rabbit, I only have a future in carrots. What if I wanted to be an astronaut? Or a paramedic? Or—"

"Judy, look. Certain mammals are just better at some things than others. When I was your age, I wanted to be a firefighter. But armadillos ball up at the first sign of danger, so I became a teacher."

A little bear cub boy walked up to the teacher and tugged on her sleeve. "Missus Amadillo?"

"Hang on, Warren!" then she turned back to Judy. "I'm not saying that you can't be what you want to be. I'm saying that what you want to be should be realistic." Judy's ears dropped.

Warren tugged harder. "Missus Amadillo! Missus Amadillo!"

"Warren! I'm talking to—"

"Bobby Bobcat is up the tree again! Look!" Warren pointed out the window to the tree, where Bobby was up on a high branch. Everyone ran outside to the tree.

"Bobby! Just stay calm!" Missus Amadillo said.

"I can't get down!" Bobby sobbed.

"Take a deep breath! Just like last time!" Missus Amadillo said.

Bobby started breathing deeply, when his instincts made him climb one branch higher. "I don't know why I did that!" Bobby continued to sob.

One boy pointed to the branch Bobby was on. "That branch isn't gonna hold him!"

"Ahh! Somebody call the police!" Missus Amadillo screamed.

"He's gonna fall!" Judy said.

Missus Amadillo curled into a ball. The laser pointer she uses to show where things need to go was hanging out of the ball she was in. Judy took it and turned it on and shined it next to Bobby. Bobby chased it down the tree, and just as he got down, a police cruiser drove up, and a tiger officer got out and witnessed Judy saving Bobby. Everyone cheered for Judy saving Bobby, and Bobby hugged her.

The officer walked up to Judy and chuckled. "That was some quick thinking! What's your name young lady?" the officer asked.

"Judy Hopps, sir."

"Well, Judy Hopps, you are a hero," the officer said, putting a ZPD Junior Detective sticker on her chest. "You know, you should think about being a police officer one day."

"Pfft! Her? She can't be a cop, she's just a bunny!" one hyena student mocked.

"You know son, this is Zootopia, where anyone can be anything."

Judy had a huge smile on her face.

 _I know what I want to be! Judy thought._

On the night of the play, the entire thing was rearranged because some kids got sick, so Judy had the lead part. Missus Amadillo let Judy say what she wanted to.

"Fear. Treachery. Bloodlust," said Judy as she wandered around the stage like a bunny would have a thousand years ago. "Thousands of years ago, these were the forces that ruled our world! A world where prey were scared of predators. And predators, had a biological urge to maim, and maul, and—"

A tiger cub jumped out of the cardboard bushes and attacked Judy. Judy screamed and fell down. "Blood! Blood! Blood!" Judy said, pulling red ribbons out and throwing them. Judy started fake choking and squeezed a bottle of ketchup onto her chest. "…and death." Judy moaned one last time, squeezing the bottle.

In the audience, Judy's parents moaned.

Bobby Bobcat was doing the music, and he did some dramatic drumming to add a feeling of fear to the play.

Judy got up. "Back then, the world was divided between two. Vicious predator!" The tiger cub hissed. "Or meek prey."

Large paper sacks were lowered over them. Bobby did more dramatic music. Sharla the lamb danced around, throwing confetti.

"But over time, we evolved, and moved beyond our primitive, savage ways." The sacks were lifted up, and Judy and the tiger had changed into white gowns. "And now, predator and prey live in harmony." Judy held the paws of the tiger cub, and Sharla exploded a party popper over their heads. "And every young mammal has multitudinous opportunities!"

"Yeah!" Sharla said. "I don't have to cower in a herd anymore." Sharla pulled the gown off, revealing an astronaut costume. "Instead, I can be an astronaut!" Bobby played a slide whistle and made the sound of a theremin.

"I don't have to be a lonely hunter anymore," said the tiger, who pulled off his gown to reveal a business suit. "Today I can hunt for tax exemptions. I'm gonna be an actuary." Bobby played a riff on the piano.

"And I can make the world a better place!" Judy said. "I am going to be…" Bobby played funky police tv show music on a cassette player. Judy pulled her gown off revealing a police officer costume. "A police officer!"

There was a lone laughing in the audience. "Bunny cop? That is _the_ most stupidest thing I have ever heard," said a young fox wearing overalls.

"It may seem impossible to small minds," Judy said, putting a police hat on her head as she leaned towards the fox. "I'm looking at _you_ , Gideon Grey."

Gideon made a confused face, and sneered at Judy as a few mammals in the audience chuckled.

"But just 211 miles away stands the great city of _Zootopia,_ " Judy said, while a cardboard cutout of Zootopia was lowered onto the stage. "Where our ancestors first joined together in peace, and declared that anyone can be anything!"

The audience started clapping. "Thank you and goodnight!" Judy said as the curtain went down.

Outside, Judy was walking along with her parents down to the carnival rows. "You know it's not night yet, right?" Bonnie asked Judy.

"Yeah. I just got caught up in the play, I should have said 'good afternoon,'" Judy said.

"Judy, do you ever wonder how your mom and me got to be so darn happy?" Stu asked, changing the subject.

"Nope!" Judy said, still skipping along.

"Well, we gave up on our dreams and we settled. Right, Bon?"

"Oh, yes, that's right Stu. We settled _hard_ ," Bon said.

"You see, that's the beauty of complacency Jude. If you never try anything new, you'll never fail."

"I like trying actually!" Judy said, jumping onto some hay bales.

"What your father means. Hon, is it's going to be difficult for you to become a police officer, impossible even.

"Right. There's never been a bunny cop."

"No!"

"Bunnies don't do that."

"Never!"

"Never."

Judy stopped. "Oh. Then, I guess I'll have to be the first one!" Judy said, perking up. "Because I am going to make the world a better place!" Judy said, doing a flip off of the hay bales.

Stu chuckled nervously. "Or, uh, heck, you know, you want to talk about making the world a better place, no better way to do that than becoming a carrot farmer."

"Yes! Your dad, me, your 275 brothers and sisters, we're changing the world!"

"Yeah."

"One carrot at a time."

"Amen to that. Carrot farming is a noble profession."

"Just putting the seeds into the ground."

Judy saw a few of her friends walk behind a tent, while Gideon Grey and his friend Travis followed them.

"Ah, at one with the soil," Stu said, while Judy stopped listening. "Just getting covered with dirt."

"You get it honey. It's great to have dreams," Bon said as Judy followed Gideon.

"Yeah! Just as long as you don't believe in them too much," Stu said, realizing Judy wasn't there. "Where'd the heck she go?"

Behind the tent, Gideon was bullying Judy's friends. "Give me your tickets right now, or I'm gonna kick your meek little sheep butt!"

Gideon pushed Sharla, who had the tickets. "Ow! Cut it out, Gideon!"

"Baa! Baa! What are you gonna do? Cry?" Gideon said as he took the tickets and put them in his pocket.

"Hey! You heard her, cut it out!" Judy said walking up.

"Nice costume, loser! What kind of world are you living in where you think a bunny can be a cop?"

"Kindly return my friends' tickets," Judy demanded holding her paw out.

"Come and get 'em!" Gideon said, patting his pocket that held the tickets. "But watch out! 'Cause I'm a fox, and like you said in your dumb little stage play, us predators used to _eat prey_! And that killer instinct is still in our 'dunnah.'"

Travis leaned over to Gideon and whispered, "Uh, I'm pretty much sure it's DNA."

"Don't tell me what I know, Travis!" Gideon hissed back at him.

"You don't scare me, Gideon," Judy said stepping forward.

Gideon shoved Judy down. "Look at her nose twitch! She is scared!" Travis sneered.

"Cry little baby bunny! Cry!" Gideon taunted. Judy got the courage and kicked Gideon in the face. Her friends ducked behind a tree. "Aw, you don't know when to quit, do you?" Gideon unsheathed his claws and growled as he came closer to Judy. He slashed at her face as she screamed. She put her paw to her cheek and looked at it. She gasped when she saw the blood. Gideon put his paw over Judy's fresh cut and held her to the ground. "I want you to remember this moment anytime you think you will be anything more than just a stupid, carrot-farming dumb bunny!"

Gideon and Travis left.

Judy's friends ran over to her. "Are you ok?" Sharla asked.

"That looks baa-d," said the other sheep.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Judy said, getting up. "Here you go." Judy handed Sharla the tickets. She had snuck them out of Gideon's pocket.

"Wow! You got our tickets!" Sharla said.

"You're awesome, Judy," said the other sheep.

"That Gideon doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"Well, he _was_ right about one thing," Judy said, putting her hat back on. "I don't know when to quit!"

 _Author's Note:_

 _The play rehearsal is heavily based off a deleted scene from Zootopia. I thought that with modifications, it would fit into the story very well._


	2. The First Hustle and a Camping Trip

_Chapter 2: The First Hustle and a Camping Trip (12)_

It was time. It was finally time.

The time had come for Jeff to come home for a week. Nick was super excited.

Nick walked up to Finnick after school and gave him a high five.

"What's up, man?" Finnick asked.

"Dad's coming home for a week tomorrow," Nick said.

"Nice!"

"Oh, hey! Mom said you could stay a couple of nights during the week."

"I'll talk to my mom about it. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Alright!"

The next week, Nick, Finnick, and Marie were at the train station, waiting for Jeff to get off the train. Marie was holding little eight-month-old Viki.

When he stepped off the train, Nick and Marie ran up to Jeff and embraced him.

"I missed you, Dad!" Nick said.

"I did too, son," Jeff replied.

Later that day, Jeff, Marie, Nick, and Finnick were at the dinner table, eating fish steaks. Viki was asleep in her crib.

"Finnick is staying for the whole time you're here, Dad," Nick said.

"That's good," Jeff said.

The next day, Nick and Finnick were horsing around on the sidewalk outside the apartment building, when Nick found a plastic watch.

"Hey! Look at this watch I found," Nick said.

"Oh! That gives me an epic idea!" Finnick said as he ran to his apartment, which was only a few blocks away.

When he returned, he had a bottle of gold paint.

"Let's make it better!" Finnick said.

"Yeah!"

After the two foxes had painted the watch gold, they were walking down the street, looking for people. They ran into a horse leaving a watch shop with an angry look on his face.

"Come on!" Nick said as they ran up to the horse. "Excuse me sir, but are you looking to buy a watch?"

"Yes, but all the good ones in there are too expensive!" the horse said.

"We're selling a nice watch," Finnick said, holding it up.

The horse took it and examined it. "What's the price?"

"Fifty dollars," Nick said.

"That's a deal! A gold watch for fifty!" the horse said, handing Nick two twenties and two fives.

Nick and Finnick ran home with the money. "Dad! Dad! Look what we got!" Nick said, holding the money up. Jeff was surprised.

"What do we have here?" Jeff asked, counting the money. "Fifty dollars? Where'd you get this?"

"We sold a guy a watch!" Finnick said.

Jeff laughed. "Let me get the camera. I'm going to take a picture." Jeff went and got a Polaroid and took a picture of the two holding the money. "Nick, tomorrow, you and me are going camping," Jeff said after he handed the picture to Nick.

"Yay!" Nick said.

"Hey! Don't I get a cut?" Finnick said.

"Camping?"

"No! I don't care for camping. I mean the dough! I want half of the money!"

"Oh! Here you go, Finn." Nick handed Finnick half of the money.

"Thanks, man."

The next day, Finnick stayed at Nick's home, helping Marie take care of Viki, while Jeff took Nick outside Zootopia for a camping trip. They stopped at a sports and outdoors store to get some supplies. While Nick was looking at the pocket tools, Jeff was trying to buy a gun.

"And why can't I buy this .22? It's just a small caliber rifle!" Jeff said to the cashier.

"We have the right to refuse service, you know!" the lion cashier said.

"I know all too well."

"You have a small child! And you want him to handle a gun?"

"The sooner you teach children gun safety, the less gun accidents there will be in the future!"

"Like a _fox_ would teach anything about _safety_!"

"I want a small caliber so the recoil won't hurt my son. 22 calibers have low recoil, and are quiet, perfect for young mammals learning gun safety!"

"Low recoil and quiet. Sounds like the perfect gun to commit a murder!"

"Ugh! Fine! Nick, come here."

Nick ran up to Jeff with a Swine Army Knife. "Can I get it? I can pay for it!"

"Sure, son."

Nick put the package on the counter, as well as the twenty five dollars. The lion did his job without a word, and handed Nick a bag with the knife and the change. The two foxes left the store, and Jeff drove them to the woods outside Zootopia to a clearing. They set up a camp and started a fire. Jeff was teaching Nick about knife safety, since he couldn't teach him gun safety.

"And you should always try to point the knife at yourself when you hand an open knife to somebody," Jeff said, handing the knife Nick had bought to Nick.

"Why is that?" asked Nick, taking the knife.

"So you won't have to move the knife around in your hand when it's handed to you."

"Ok. Do you use knives in the military?"

"Yes, we have them, and the Marines use K-A Bar knives, but they're not nearly as effective at long range as an M-16 rifle."

"Cool. Why is it called a K-A Bar?"

"Because about a hundred years ago, mammals who bought these knives were fighting the Bear Confederation. As you know, bears are tough, but these knives could 'kill a bar' as the redneck soldiers said."

"Cool!"

"Also, if you are handed an open knife, hand it back open. If you are handed a closed knife, hand it back closed."

"Ok."

"It's getting late, Nick. We should get to bed now."

"Alright."

The next morning, Jeff took Nick around the woods, teaching him how to find food when he's lost in the woods.

"And these berries here are-" Jeff was explaining.

"Look! Blueberries!" Nick said, grabbing a berry and ate it.

"Wait!" Jeff said, grabbing Nick's paw before he put another one in his mouth. "Before you eat anything you find in the woods, you have to check and see if it is edible."

Nick spit the berry out of his mouth and rubbed his tongue. "Will I die now?"

Jeff chuckled. "Lucky for you, these are non-poisonous wild blueberries. You can eat them."

"I think I'll pass."

Jeff chuckled again. "I think it's time to head home, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Nick said, stuffing some blueberries into his backpack.

 _Author's Note:_

 _It's true. If you teach gun safety early, there will be less gun accidents in the future! Sorry for my rant, but, if more sane people were armed, the insane people would get off fewer shots! Average people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by police: 12. Average people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by civilians: 2. Keep civilians armed! Those averages are real statistics that I rounded. You can look it up, too. Also, the story behind the K-A Bar knife's name is true, minus the Bear Confederation part._


	3. High School

**WARNING:**

 **This chapter will get graphic in the middle! Beware if bloody scenes upset you.** _A second warning will be given before it begins. A condensed and mostly un-bloody version of Nick's account of the scene appears in The Rough Life of Nick Wilde chapter 1 if you want to know what happens without most of the blood, or if you want more details, check chapter 3 of the said book._

 _Chapter 3: High School (15 – 18)_

Once Nick was in high school, he had become practically a complete shell of his former self. The child in him was gone, and he was a stereotypical fox— shifty, untrustworthy, and outright cunning. He had amassed a bit of cash from hustling with Finnick. The two had a reputation of being tough guys who always got their way, but everyone is still mean to them. They always sat alone during lunch at school.

"I had an idea, Finn," Nick said during lunch.

"Yeah?" Finn asked, eating his potato chips.

"We can try…" Nick started, but trailed off.

"What? Try what?"

"Who's that?" Nick asked, pointing to an arctic fox in the lunch line.

"Probably the new kid."

"He's a fox like us. He should join us."

"Meh." Finn went back to eating.

Nick got up and walked over to the other fox.

"But I want to get the chicken!" the fox said to the lunch lady hippo.

"We are not allowed to serve meat to foxes," the hippo said.

"But that lion just got some! Why can't I?"

"Here," the lunch lady said, dumping some bug soup in a bowl for the fox, who just left the line grumbling.

"Hey. That's not how you do it," Nick said.

"What?" the fox asked.

"Come sit with us and I'll tell you about it. What's your name?"

"Archie Vulpes. What's yours?"

"Nick Wilde."

"Nice to meet you, Nick."

"You too, Archie."

By then, the two reached their table. Nick sat down, and Archie sat beside him.

"Finnick, this is Archie Vulpes. He's new here and needs to know how a fox is to survive in this swamp."

"Nice to meet you, Arch. Is it ok if I call you that?"

"Totally fine. That's what my friends at my old school called me."

"Ok Arch. The way you survive here is our motto. Nick started it. Tell him."

"The motto we live by is: _Never let them see that they get to you_."

"How does that help?"

"It breaks people down. They expect _you_ to break down, but when you don't, it knocks _them_ off the pedestal they put themselves on. Thus, allowing us to take their place at the top of the food chain."

"Exactly."

"I see it now."

The three foxes became good friends over the next few years, pulling off hustles together. Finnick brought in Honey the honey badger, too. The four of them became one of the biggest con groups Zootopia had ever seen, and they were all under twenty one!

One night, Nick and Archie were casually strolling down the back streets of Savanna Central at night.

"Nick? What would you do if someone you loved like a brother was suddenly gone?"

Nick was a bit confused at the question. "Why do you ask that?"

"It's… it's personal."

"I guess I would try to forget about them. Because if you don't, eventually people will see your hurt, and we can't have that. Can we?"

"No. I guess not."

"Speaking of forget, let's drop this subject and look for some cool stuff in this alley." Nick led Archie into an alley behind a computer repair shop, hoping to find something good to sell.

"Hey! Check out this warehouse!" Archie said, pointing into a hole in a wall where a fox could just slip in. "Maybe there's something good in here!" Archie disappeared through the hole.

Nick laughed. "You always love adventure, don't you Arch?"

 **WARNING: Bloody scene approaching! Turn back now if this upsets you! Skip to the next bold line to skip the bloody part if you want.**

Nick didn't get a response. "Arch! Are you in there?" Nick yelled into the hole. All he heard was a muffled yelp. Nick instantly knew something was wrong. He slipped into the dark room. There were noises coming from a door on the other side of the large, dark room. He went to the door and opened it. Inside was just pure evil.

A cougar grabbed Nick from behind and held him still.

Nick saw Archie against the wall, with several large predators holding him against it. A lion that seemed to reek of the evil he led walked up to Nick. He pulled out a knife and stuck it in his face.

"Leave now, and never tell anyone of this. If you do, we will hunt you down, and kill you and your family," the lion said.

Nick was too scared to say anything.

"I said leave!" the lion roared. "Or your friend gets it!" the leader said as he held his knife to Archie's throat.

"Ok!" Nick shouted. "We'll leave… and we'll never tell… a soul!"

The leader smiled. His teeth were a foul yellow, and several were crooked or missing.

"Nice try, fox! I won't trust your kind!"

And right there, the leader plunged the knife into Archie's throat. Archie looked at Nick. "I knew this would happen sooner or later," Archie said breathlessly, before he fell limp at Nick's feet.

"No!" Nick started sobbing. Who cared about the motto now? The cougar dropped Nick, who got on his knees beside Archie's body. "Don't leave me, Archie!"

The leader strafed the two foxes, observing every move Nick made, and every move Archie _didn't_ make. The leader took the knife stained in Archie's blood and licked it, smiling- an image that Nick would come to associate with the word "bloodlust."

The cougar took Nick and threw him outside a door. Nick landed on some trash cans. Nick looked back at the door, and saw it be closed. Nick climbed out of the cans and saw Archie lying on his back beside the cans.

Archie's pure white fur had become blood-stained and cold. The smell of the blood was making Nick feel uncomfortable. The gash in his neck was still oozing out blood.

Nick reached out and touched Archie's cheek. "So much wasted time," Nick said to the body. Nick looked at his paw and saw the blood. He rubbed it off on his shirt. Then the sound of the door being unlocked woke Nick up from his trance. He got up and ran off as fast as he could.

On the way home, he jumped into a fountain to get the blood off of himself.

Once he got home, he went into his bedroom and sobbed into his pillow.

Nick did not go to the funeral once the body was found. He did hear that the body was not where it was when Nick saw it, though.

 **Bloody scene over. Back to your regularly scheduled programing. Although, it gets a bit mature in what this part will allude to.**

Within a month, Nick had finally gotten over Archie's death. He was walking down a hallway in school one morning, when his name came over the PA.

" _Will Nicolas Wilde please report to the principal's office?"_

This was nothing new. Nick had been called in many times before.

When he entered, there was a young red fox vixen about his age sitting in a chair. Nick sat in the chair beside her.

"Nicolas, this is Dian Weather. She has just moved here from California. I want you to show her where her classes are," the principal said.

"Will do, sir," Nick said, jumping off the chair. Dian followed.

"So, Cali, huh?" Nick asked, taking up small talk.

"Yeah, but there weren't any tods that were as handsome as you," Dian said. Nick combed the fur on his head a bit when Dian looked away.

"You think I'm handsome?" Nick asked, smirking.

"Of course!"

"I get that a lot from the ladies."

Dian giggled. "You're funny, too."

Nick chuckled along with her. "Hey, um, there's a party going on at the Johnson's place tomorrow night. Would you like to go? You could get to meet several classmates."

"I would love to go with you."

Dian put her arm through Nick's as they walked around school.

The next night, Nick was driving Dian to the Johnson's property. It was a large two story ranch-style house in the country. Once they got there, Nick found a parking spot. They got out and walked towards the house.

"You can feel the bass from out here," Dian commented as they walked up. "Are the Johnson parents ok with this?"

"Ha! James' parents throw parties like this for parents all the time! They let James throw these parties once a month!" Nick said as they reached the front door. Nick opened it, and they walked in.

There were mammals all over the place; on the staircase, on the balcony, in the kitchen, and even one was hanging off the ceiling fan!

"What is up my man!?" Finnick yelled from the balcony.

"What's up, Finn?" Nick yelled back.

"Come on up here!"

Nick took Dian to Finnick, who had dragged a couch to the balcony, and was sitting on it. He patted the cushion beside him for Nick to sit. He sat down and Dian sat beside him.

"Who's this?" asked Finnick.

"Finn, meet Dian Weather. She's my date for tonight."

"How do you do?" asked Dian.

"Very good. Thank you. Beer?" Finn asked, handing Nick and Dian each a beer can.

Nick drank half of the can in one setting, while Dian paced herself a bit.

As the night progressed, James offered bedrooms for anyone staying the night, to which Nick accepted.

The next morning, Nick awoke and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't completely sure he knew where he was. He looked to his side, and there was Dian! It dawned on him instantly what must've happened.

 _He had slept with her!_

He got out and got dressed, then drove away as fast as he could. He hopped it hadn't have happened, because he was drunk. He wouldn't have known!

 _Nothing happened last night,_ Nick kept telling himself.

Later, Dian awoke to the sound of a car's tires screeching down the street. She opened her eyes and didn't know where she was, until it all came back. She saw her clothes laying on the other side of the room, and the spot on the bed beside her was still warm.

She started getting worried. She got dressed and went outside. She could not find Nick or his car anywhere! She asked some of the other mammals that had stayed the night. None had seen him, but one said he saw Nick drive off a few minutes ago.

 _He dumped me!_ Dian thought.

She called a taxi to get home. During the ride, she grew angry at Nick for this entire night. To her, he was just another jerk.

The next week at school, Nick opened his locker to find a small piece of paper he didn't put there. He opened it and it was a handwritten note by Dian. It read:

 _Dear Nick,_

 _I hate you! You slept with me and dumped me in the same night! I will never speak a kind word to you ever again! Did I mention that I hate you? Oh, and by the way, I'm pregnant!_

 _Your newfound enemy,_

 _Dian Weather_

Nick didn't know what to think. He crumbled the paper and put it in his backpack.

Later, he saw Dian walking down the hall, and he jumped behind a locker to hide from her. He did not want to face her ever again.

After school, Nick drove to the same spot where he and his dad had gone camping many years ago- this spot had a special meaning for him.

Nick took the note. He read it once more, than got out his lighter and burned it to ashes. Once it was burned, he dug a small hole and buried the ashes.

 _This is the end of that,_ Nick thought.

As Nick drove home, he turned the radio on to 88.5. A song was just starting.

 _You want to push me like I don't mind. You want to break me but not this time._

 _You underestimate the moment you shove. You've got no idea what I'm capable of._

 _No! No! You don't!_

 _You think I'm gonna back down? You better think again. I've always said:_

 _The bigger they are, the harder they fall! You're gonna suffer, hit me I hit back harder!_

 _The bigger you are, the harder you fall! It's your darkest hour, hit me I hit you harder!_

 _When my back's against the, (Insert cool guitar and drum fill here) Wall!_

 _I strike back! I strike back!_

 _When my back's against the wall!_

 _I strike back! I strike back!_

 _I could get into this song!_ Nick thought. He took a note of the artist- We As Fox- so he could buy their cd.

 _Author's Note:_

 _Lyrics: Strike Back by We As Human._

 _Check it out if you like hard rock like I do, because it is a great song by a great band!_


	4. Out of the House

_Chapter 4: Out of the House_

Graduation day. The day every high school student looks forward to. The day most are done with school for their lives, while some will continue to go to college.

Nick's family were at the ceremony to watch Nick.

"And Mr. Nicolas Wilde," the principal said, announcing the names of the students who graduated.

As soon as Nick started walking down the aisle, the crowd was clapping the same as they clap for everyone else. But once most of the crowd could see Nick, the applause died out. The only people still clapping the same was Nick's family. Nick got on the stage to accept the diploma.

"Thank you," Nick said.

The principle glared at Nick as he took his seat with the other students.

.

The next day, Nick had purchased an apartment and was moving out.

"Why are you leaving me so soon, Nicky?" Marie asked.

"Why?" Viki asked.

"I'm sick of living here! I want to go away from this stupid neighborhood!" Nick yelled as he threw some things into a box.

"I see you need some time alone," Marie said, turning and walking away. Viki stood at the doorway watching Nick.

"Can I help you?" Viki asked.

"Sure, little sis." Nick handed Viki a box. "Can you please put that in the trunk of my car?"

"Ok!" Viki walked down the hallway with the box in her arms.

 _Viki is probably one of the only things I'll miss,_ thought Nick. _She's always so sweet._

Once Nick was all packed, he left. That would be one of the last times he ever saw his parents.

As Nick was unpacking, he wanted some music, so he turned the radio on. The song that was playing was the bridge of Spy Hunter by Project 86.

 _I, do not, need, anymore, truth, less heroes, truth-less heroes._

 _I, do not, need, anymore, truth, less heroes, truth-less heroes._

 _I, do not, need, anymore, truth, less heroes, truth-less heroes._

 _We don't need no truth-less heroes!_

 _So hide yourself, hide, hide, yourself,_

 _For now. For now. For now. Wow!_

 _So hide yourself, hide, hide, yourself,_

 _For now. For now. For now. Wow!_

" _And that was just the bridge from Spy Hunter by Project 86! This is KFOX 88.5, playing the songs you need to hear, right now!"_ said the DJ.

Nick wanted to hide himself from the world. He felt the song fit well.

.

The next evening, Nick jumped into his 1970 muscle car and drove off from his apartment. He drove down the street and onto the highway. The sun was setting as he drove. He drove out of town and out onto the open road.

He kept driving, and then he felt ambitious. His foot felt heavy and pressed down on the pedal. He drove faster and faster until he hit eighty miles per hour. When he did, the car started to shake a bit, but it was still fine.

 _I don't need a girl. I don't need a friend. My friend Lonesome is unconditional. We're flying forever bored,_ Nick thought.

Nick looked at his cracked side view mirror and smirked. His life felt perfect right now, being alone and free. He looked around at the world outside, and felt like the night was calling him into it. Nick cracked open the window and felt the cool air blow through his fur.

 _Nowhere to go and nothing to do,_ Nick thought.

Nick turned the radio on, and tuned it to WFOX-FM 88.5 and started singing along with the song, as he shifted from fifth gear to sixth.

 _My pile shakes as I hit eighty on the open road!_

 _This is an open road song!_

As Nick was driving along the road, at 80 mph, an officer saw him and pulled him over.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" the Cape buffalo officer asked.

"Yup. 80," Nick said, smirking.

"I'm going to write you a ticket, and you are not going to do this again."

"Whatever. Do you need my ID?"

"Yes."

Nick handed the officer his driver's license.

"Nicolas Piberius Wilde, huh?"

"Yup."

"Here."

Nick saw the officer's nameplate said "Bogo."

"I bet you wish you were chief one day, don't you?"

"Most officers do."

"Am I done?"

"Yes. Just don't go over the speed limit again. It's there for a reason."

"Whatever."

And with that, Nick drove off. Nick hoped he would never see that officer again.

 _Author's Note:_

 _And now it will begin to slow down, so as to focus on Nick's hustling career. If you were following along The Life of Nicole Wilde, you'll recognize this last part as the preview I gave at the end of the story. I did modify it a bit._

 _Lyrics: bridge from "Spy Hunter" by Project 86 and chorus from "Open Road Song" by Eve6._


	5. Mr Big - Opposition

_Author's Note:_

 _This chapter will slow everything down now. It will be a lot more detailed from here on out._

 _I have read the reviews for Take A Stand, and MafiGuy2017's comments were disgusting. Nobody should ever make someone cry on the internet! Fanfiction is a website for fun, not bullies! If MafiaGuy2017 is reading this, if you really want to know who Nick's wife will be, read The Life of Nicole Wilde, chapter 13, but do not leave a hateful review. If you leave a hateful comment, it's reporting time. Anyway, all my faithful readers can read this story, and leave a review._

 _Chapter 5: Mr. Big (21) – Opposition (16)_

 _(Nick)_

Nick was sitting in Finnick's van, while Finnick was driving down the streets of Tundra Town. Nick was looking at Furbook on his phone, when he got a weather alert for Zootopia.

"Hey, Finn. It says here there's going to be a blizzard in about an hour. Maybe we should start heading back before it gets here."

"Nah! We'll make it. Don't you want to get the money for the new stove?"

Finnick was right. Nick needed a new stove. His old stove recently went out. He couldn't live off microwaved chicken nuggets for the rest of his life. "You're right, Finn. I need the new stove."

"Here's the place. I'll drive to the other end of the district, while you work your way down there," Finn said, stopping the van.

Nick opened the back doors and wheeled a cart out. Nick saluted to Finnick, and he drove off. Nick pushed the cart down the street. There were actually very few mammals out today, probably because the storm was coming. But one bobcat walked up.

"What'cha sellin'?" the bobcat asked.

"Hello there, sir!" Nick said, getting his salesman tone on. "How would you like an antique clock?" Nick held up a cuckoo clock.

"Nah."

"A book on the life of Robin Hood?"

"Nah."

"How about this skillet?"

"Dat's a cd case!"

"It says skillet on it, and it has a picture of one on it."

"Dat's the band Skillet's self-titled debut album!"

"I've got all six albums here, even their newest, Collide!"

"I'll take them all!"

"That'll be $150."

"What!? For six cds?"

"Hey, that's the price. Take it or leave it."

"Fine. Here's a hundred and a fifty."

"For an extra fifty, you can get the Satellite and Payable on Death cds by P.O.D."

"Hm… Ok. Here."

Nick handed the bobcat all eight cds as he took the extra fifty from him. "Have a nice day!"

Nick didn't sell anything else for another hour, and the storm was getting closer.

"Come on, Finn! You know I can't survive this storm alone!" Nick said out loud.

Nick looked at his phone, but he had no service.

Eventually, Nick hid the cart in an alleyway, and he continued to walk towards where Finnick was waiting for him. As the storm started to come down, Nick was getting colder and colder.

 _I wish I had a coat,_ thought Nick, for he only had his Hawaiian shirt and khakis as usual. Nick eventually passed out, and landed in a snowdrift.

As he was asleep, two polar bears saw Nick, and took him to their boss's home. Nick woke up an hour later on a couch.

"Mom? Is that you?" Nick mumbled.

"It's awl right now, Mr. Wilde," said an accented feminine voice. Nick shot up and looked at where the voice came from.

"You're! You're! You're! Who are you?" Nick asked, stuttering on his words as he looked upon the tiny female arctic shrew.

"I'm Fru Fru Big, the daughter of the infamous Mr. Big."

"Mr. Big?"

"Yeah! He wants to meet 'cha! He's heard so much about the best con mammal Zootopia has ever seen!"

Nick watched Fru Fru as she walked onto the paw of a polar bear, who carried her out.

"You coming'?" Fru Fru asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Nick got off of the couch and wrapped himself in a blanket.

Nick followed the polar bear carrying Fru Fru down a dark, cold hallway. The polar bear opened the door and pushed Nick inside. There was a large chair and desk in the middle of the room, and a fireplace behind the desk. A large polar bear walked out of the door on the other side of the room, and sat at the desk. He set a small chair down on the desk and turned it around, revealing the arctic shrew that was Mr. Big.

"Mr. Big?" Nick asked.

"Yes. I am he. And you must be Nicolas Wilde, the best con mammal in Zootopia's history," Mr. Big said.

"Well, I wouldn't say in all of history," Nick said.

"So modest. Just like all the greats."

"Hold on, you think I'm one of the greats?"

"Of course. The only thing that holds you back from being the _greatest,_ is to con me. But I would never be stupid enough to fall for your tricks." Mr. Big smiled and chuckled.

"Is there a reason you brought me here?"

"Yes. Yes, of course. I want you to do a job for me."

"A job? A mafia job?"

"Yes. I will tell you more over dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Grandmamma made us a cannoli, and she would love to meet you."

"I would love to stay and chat, but I really need to get back to my partner."

"You mean him?" Mr. Big pressed a button and a cage came out of the ceiling, with Finnick in it.

"Let me go, you stinkin' son of a roach!" Finnick yelled as he was clawing at the cage bars.

Mr. Big chuckled. "We mean neither of you harm. But, if you will not be persuaded by my good hospitality, than let me make you an offer you cannot refuse."

.

Later, Nick and Finnick were both in the Big's dining room, gathered around the table to eat the cannoli that Grandmamma Big had made. Rusev the polar bear gave a prayer, and broke the bread, handing some to each person at the table. Nick sat across from the Bigs, while Finnick sat beside him, but only his ears could be seen from the Bigs' side. Polar bears were situated on the opposite ends of the table.

"Hows'a you'a like'a the cannoli?" Grandmamma Big asked.

"It's the best cannoli I've ever had," Nick said.

"Honestly I could have gone with a milkshake myself," Finnick mumbled, and Nick gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"OW!"

"Shut up!" Nick hissed.

"Excuse me, but what is the problem over there?" asked Mr. Big.

"No problem, just a friendly, uh, talk," Nick said.

"Yeah right," Finnick mumbled, crossing his arms, but nobody could see it.

"Anyways, let's talk a little business. You can con people, right?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm here," Nick said, taking a sip of his wine.

"Oh please," Finnick mumbled.

"I want you to get me a container of plutonium," Mr. Big said.

Nick almost choked on his drink. "Plutonium? Like the stuff you use to power nuclear reactors?"

"Plutonium? Sounds like it's from Pluto," Finnick mumbled. "Wait, nuclear reactors!?" Finnick jumped onto the table. "You want us to steal radioactive material!?"

"No, no! Not steal, borrow."

"How do you borrow something like that!?" Finnick was really mad now. He was a bit protective of Nick since Archie died.

"I need it for a very important mission."

"That doesn't answer the question!"

"Will fifty thousand suit you?"

Kevin the polar bear opened a suitcase with loads of hundred dollar bills. Finnick and Nick stared at the money.

"I'll do it!" Nick said.

"I will, too," Finnick said.

 _(Judy)_

"Come on, Judy! We'll be late for school!" Janet said as they raced to the school bus.

"I'm coming!" Judy replied.

The two bunnies got on the bus last out of their large family. Janet and Judy were like best friends out of their brothers and sisters.

At school, Judy was in English class first. Gideon Grey sat across the room from Judy, and Travis sat beside him. They both watched every move Judy made.

"Class! I need to leave the room for ten minutes. Behave yourselves while I'm gone," Mrs. Amadillo said.

"We're not four year olds," Gideon said.

"I heard that Gideon! I was speaking to you and Travis to behave yourselves!"

Gideon crossed his arms and looked away, but once Mrs. Amadillo left, he walked over to Judy. Judy was wearing a t-shirt that said "ZPD Academy Class of 2006". Judy had gone to see the graduation last week to watch the graduates be promoted to officer, and she got a shirt.

"Hey Hopps!" Gideon yelled. Judy slowly turned around. "I thought I told you never to even try to become a cop! And you come here with an Academy shirt." Gideon grabbed her by the collar and pinned her against the wall. "What happened about remembering _that_ moment, butthead?"

"Oh, I remember it. But only one thing you said that day was true. _I don't know when to quit!_ " Judy smiled. "You don't scare me, Gideon."

Gideon threw her onto a desk. "I hope you quit, 'cause a bunny cain't be anything more than a carrot farmer!"

"I won't quit!" Judy said.

Gideon slapped Judy across the face, knocking her down. "You will never be a cop! You will always be a stupid, carrot-farming, dumb bunny! You are too weak and sensitive to be a cop!" Gideon thumped the back of Judy's head and went back to his seat, giving Travis a high-four.

Judy was laying on the ground crying when Mrs. Amadillo came back in, gasping when she saw Judy. "Judy! Are you ok?"

"I'm… *sniff* I'm ok," Judy said.

"What happened?"

Judy looked at Gideon, then at her friends, then at her teacher. "Nothing. I just fell down."

Mrs. Amadillo knew it was Gideon's fault, but she let it slide. "I want you to go to the nurse's office and get your face checked out; it's as red as a fire truck!"

Judy got up and walked down the hall towards the nurse's office, when she stopped at a bench in the hall. She climbed onto the large bench and started sobbing.

 _I'll never be a cop. Gideon was right, I am just a stupid, dumb bunny. I'll never make it._ Judy was bashing herself internally, making herself sick to her stomach.

She eventually wandered over to the nurse's office to get checked out.

Once she was done, she went back to class. Gideon wasn't in the classroom, so Judy sat back down. She waited for the day to be over, because she wanted out of there.

 _Author's Note:_

 _I just recently watched all three Back to the Future movies, and I have to say, they are pretty awesome! Be on the lookout for references to the movies now! (Hint: there's two in this chapter.)_


	6. The Big Job

_Author's Note:_

 _Rainy season in Oklahoma is my least favorite time of year. It rained so much our internet went out. It finally came back last Friday, but I was too busy to upload, and I almost never upload on Saturday or Sunday, so here's the next chapter on Monday._

 _Chapter 6: The Big Job (21)_

"I am so glad that you saw it my way," Mr. Big said. "Raymond will show you two out."

Nick and Finnick followed Raymond the polar bear out of the mansion. Finnick's van was parked right outside.

"You two better do the job before you come back," Raymond said in a thick Russian accent.

"We will," Nick said, saluting casually as they drove off.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Finnick wondered out loud.

"Did you see that cash? I would have enough to get a new stove _and_ a new fridge, and _still_ have plenty left over!"

"Yeah, but plutonium?"

"Honey has the stuff, right?"

"Of course! But radioactive materials?"

"Stop worrying!"

"Whatever."

.

Finnick drove to a run-down auto body shop. He closed the garage door behind him, then pushed a button. The floor lowered down, with the van on it. When it stopped, they were over a hundred feet underground. Finnick drove the van off the floor-elevator and the elevator went back up.

"Honey's got some fancy security measures," Nick commented.

Finnick typed in a code into a keypad that opened the door. The two foxes walked into the room. It was dark.

"Honey! It's Finn and Nick!" Finnick yelled.

Suddenly, there was a hiss, and a mammal about twice as big as Nick jumped out of the shadows holding a large shotgun. It was pointed at Finnick. "Why are you here?" the mammal asked in a gruff voice.

"Whoa! Honey, we need your help for a job," Finnick said, unafraid of Honey's tough act.

Honey threw the shotgun over her shoulder and took her mask off, revealing a beautiful female honey badger underneath. She then turned the lights on. "Alright. What'cha need?"

"We need to 'borrow' some plutonium for Mr. Big," Nick said.

"And why are you working for Mr. Big may I ask?" Honey asked, sitting down at a table.

"He'll pay us fifty thousand to do it," Nick replied, sitting across the table from Honey, and Finnick sat beside Nick.

"Hmm. Sounds reasonable," Honey said, opening a case on the table. "This is going to be a hustle, not a heist, correct?"

"Duh! I'm not going to break into a nuclear power plant to steal their fuel," Finnick said.

"What are you gonna tell them? 'Hello. I am Nick Wilde, and a mafia boss needs this plutonium.' I don't think that'll work, boys."

"I was thinking about forging some documents that require the employees to give me a couple pounds of it," Nick said.

"In any case, you'll need this," Honey said, pulling out two Colt 1911 pistols.

"What would we use those for?" asked Finnick.

"To hold someone at gunpoint if we need to."

"Um, I don't plan on doing that, but ok," Nick said, taking one of the pistols and looked it over.

.

Later, Finnick drove up to the nuclear plant outside the Meadowlands. Honey and Nick got out. They were wearing business suits, and honey had glasses on, while Nick had contacts that made his eyes blue instead of green. They walked up to the guards, who stopped them.

"Identification please," the leopard said.

Honey took out her fake ID tag and showed it to the guard. He looked it over for a minute.

"You may pass. What about him?"

"He's with me."

The guard let Nick and Honey into the building. They walked through the halls, following the signs to lead them to the fuel vault.

"I don't see how we got past those guards; I thought we were dead!" Nick whispered to Honey.

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded," Honey said.

"Don't quote Star Wars. We both know the Force had nothing to do with that."

"Yeah. I know a guy who makes fake IDs that are so realistic, the police can run it through their system and come out with a perfect match!"

"Wow."

The two walked up to the fuel vault. There was an unidentifiable mammal in a radiation suit standing outside, looking at a clipboard.

"We need a cart of plutonium. Only about twenty-five pounds," Honey said.

The mammal looked up from his clipboard and looked at Honey and Nick. "Do you have authorization?"

"I do," Honey said, handing the mammal a piece of paper.

He looked it over, then opened the vault and walked in. he walked out five minutes later with a cart that had a reactive material container on it.

"Thank you. We'll be taking this to a lab in Tundratown," Nick said.

They pushed the cart out to Finnick's van, then loaded it into the back. They got in and drove off.

"We got it!" Nick said as they entered the outskirts of Zootopia.

"Yeah!" Finnick said.

"One problem, though," Honey said.

"What's that?" Nick asked.

"There's a police car following us."

"Crap! Probably looking for drugs going into the city!" Finnick said.

"Let me get into the driver's seat, and Nick can sit in the passenger seat," Honey said.

They pulled over and switched seats quickly. The officer walked up as Honey rolled down the window. The officer was a wolf.

"I am officer Wolfard, and I need to do a drug inspection of this vehicle before you can enter Zootopia," the rookie officer said. "Can I see your ID, please?"

Honey handed Wolfard her fake driver's license. He looked it over, then hand it back. He started walking towards the back doors, and he was sniffing intently.

"I smell something strange," Wolfard said.

"Probably the plutonium we have back there," Honey said.

"Plutonium? Why do you have that?"

"It's for a lab in Tundratown. We were sent to go get it from the nuclear power plant."

"Oh. Can I look in the back?"

"Sure."

Wolfard opened the back doors and looked at the box that said in bold across the sides: " **Warning! Radioactive Plutonium Inside!** "

"Looks legit to me. You can pass on."

"Thanks, Officer!" Honey said as she pulled away.

.

They pulled up in front of Mr. Big's mansion an hour later—traffic was horrible. It was also partly due to Honey driving slower because she doesn't know if the cargo would explode or not.

They brought the cart in the front door. Koslov was standing there with Mr. Big in his chair in his paw.

"I see you have the merchandise," Mr. Big said.

"Yes, we do," Nick said, smirking.

"Good."

"What is this for?" Finnick asked.

"Follow me, and bring the cart," Mr. Big said.

Koslov turned around and walked down the hallway. Finnick and Nick followed with the cart. They took the cart down a ramp into the basement. There was a vault there.

"Put the cart in there," Mr. Big said as Raymond opened the vault door. Once they put the cart in, Raymond closed the door.

"This plutonium is worth a lot of money on the black market. I am going to sell it to an organization from Afghanistag," Mr. Big said.

"How much will it bring?" Finnick asked.

"Oh, it's hard to say for certain when you sell to these Middle Eastern terrorist groups, but I'd say about, oh, five million."

"Five million dollars?" Nick said. "You are going to sell this stuff for five million, and you are only going to give us one percent of the profits?"

"It's better than nothing," Mr. Big said.

Nick smirked. He had been hustled. "I see what you mean by you would never fall for my tricks, because I fell for yours!"

Everyone started laughing—except for the polar bears. Nick started patting Kevin the polar bear on the back. "It's ok, laugh!" Nick said. Kevin smiled, then started patting Nick on the back. "Hey! Easy there, big guy." Kevin kept patting harder until Nick fell down. Then the polar bears started laughing.

 _Author's Note:_

 _The ending doesn't seem right to me, but I'll let it slide for now._


	7. Walk And Stalk

_Author's Note:_

 _This chapter is named after a track from the Zootopia Soundtrack that plays when Judy confronts Nick about his hustling._

 _Chapter 7: Walk and Stalk (21)_

Today, Nick was walking down the sidewalk, thinking. He was meditating on his life.

 _I wonder if I should ever get married. If I did, I wonder if I would have to stop hustling. It's profitable, but not predictable,_ Nick thought.

Nick sat on a bench and looked at the park across the street from him. He saw kids of all species playing together and their parents. The one that caught his eye was the fox vixen and her kit. The little kit looked about two or three years old, and he looked familiar. The vixen's back was turned to Nick, and the kit was looking at Nick as he played in the sandbox. The kit pointed straight at Nick and stood up and waved. Nick waved back, then the vixen got up and carried the kit away. Nick saw the kit's tail. It had a dark red end instead of the usual white. It was just like Nick's tail.

.

Dian was sitting on a park bench across from the sandbox. She was here with her son, Zane. She was reading a book while Zane played in the sandbox. She saw Zane pointing and waving at someone across the street. She didn't look at who he was pointing to. She picked Zane up and walked down the sidewalk towards her apartment. She was tired, and didn't want to have to deal with other people today.

.

Nick watched the vixen walk down the sidewalk with the toddler on her hip. She and her son looked familiar, but Nick couldn't place it. After she turned a corner, Nick went back to his thoughts.

 _I wonder how Viki is doing. She is about nine years old by now._

Nick tried to picture what Viki would look like as a nine year old.

 _It would be kind of hard to find my parents and Viki, seeing as they moved to Okladensa recently._

Nick stood back up and started walking towards the subway station near him. He bought a ticket and boarded. It was headed to the outskirts of town, where his favorite spot to relax was. Once the train stopped, Nick walked out and went to the bridge he liked to sit under. The chair, the cardboard boxes, the bucket, everything was just as he left it. He put his sunglasses on and sat on the chair.

 _Life's good,_ Nick thought. _Nobody to tell me what to do, I don't have to pay taxes, and I don't even need an apartment if I wanted. But, I need it._

Nick smiled as he thought of all the good times he had in his life, the first hustle, meeting Archie, coming under the protection of Mr. Big, and so on.

But, as hard as he tried, the memories of Archie's death came creeping into Nick's mind, removing the smile from Nick's face and replacing it with a frown. The one thing that stuck out for Nick was what the leader had said last— _I won't trust your kind._ The key word for Nick in that is "Won't." It bothered Nick that he wouldn't even give any fox a chance. It seemed everyone else in the world was like that, too.

Nick got up and opened the cooler that he kept well stocked and grabbed a root beer can and opened it. He took a good long sip from it before he sat back down.

"What to do tomorrow?" Nick wondered out loud.

"Let's hustle an ice cream parlor," came Finnick's voice.

"Finnick?" Nick asked, opening his eyes, seeing Finnick leaning over the edge of the bridge above him.

"What's up, Nick?"

"Nothing. What're you doing here?"

"Just came to hang out."

"So you want to do the old Jumbo Pop Hustle?"

"I hate that costume, but it makes a bunch of money."

"Ok, then. Let's make some plans."

Nick and Finnick started making their plans for their next hustle. Eventually, they decided to put the whole thing off one more day.

 _Author's Note:_

 _So sorry I haven't been uploading sooner. I have gotten distracted writing another story that I think would be very well-received._

 _The working title is The Case of the Kuznetsov, and it is about Nick's dad during his deployment, and he got involved in a Russian plot during the Cold War, and Nick discovers it and tries to find out more._

 _The next chapter was one of the first I wrote for this story._


	8. Jumbo Pop Hustle

_Author's Note:_

 _This chapter is also named for a track on the Zootopia Soundtrack. This one plays when Judy watches Nick and Finnick sell the pawpsicles. Wow! Two chapters in one day!_

 _Chapter 8: Jumbo Pop Hustle (21)_

Nick was walking down the sidewalk on Zorro Street when he looked to his right and saw Cooper Flower Nursery. He had passed by that store almost every other week. He bought some flowers for his mother's birthday there several years ago.

It had been a while since he had seen his parents and Viki.

Then Nick looked to his left and saw the Daily Grind Coffee Shop.

 _That's a new place,_ Nick thought. _I must not have been down this way longer than I thought._

Nick casually stepped in and sat down at a table by a window. He was thinking about how to hustle some bucks, or even free coffee from this place. But before he could hustle this place, he needed to get some trust from the employees.

"What'll it be, mister?" asked the waitress that Nick didn't notice until now.

Nick looked at the vixen waitress. She was beautiful. Luxurious red coat, nice fluffy tail, and the most gorgeous eyes.

"I asked you a question," the vixen stated.

"Oh! I'm sorry. It's just, wow. Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?" Nick said, staring into her eyes.

"Yes, I have been told. But not by anyone as handsome as you," the vixen replied, smiling. "What's your name?"

"Wildly in love," Nick mumbled to himself. The vixen chuckled. "I mean, Nick. Nick Wilde."

"I'm Lucy Cooper. Nice to meet you. Now are you going to order?"

"I'll have a small coffee."

"I'll be back with your order in just a minute."

Nick watched Lucy walk back to the counter. Something about her was attracting him to her, and it wasn't just the fact she was cute. It was something deeper.

Nick shook those thoughts from his head and made a plan for him and Finnick to try and hustle the owner of that sweet sport car who lives across the street from Nick. They wanted to take it for a spin. They wouldn't damage it, or do anything illegal, just drive it around town (and beyond!) for a couple of hours.

As Nick was thinking, Lucy set a coffee down in front of Nick, then sat in the chair across from Nick, holding her own coffee.

"Don't you need to get to work?" Nick asked, confused as to why she was sitting here.

"My break was about to start before you came in. I figured I could serve you then go on break. Besides, I always sit here when I'm on break," Lucy said before taking a sip of her coffee.

Nick decided to take up small talk. "So, do you live in Zootopia?"

"Yup. Just behind the plant nursery over there."

"You aren't related to the owners of the nursery, are you?"

"They're my parents. I work here during the summer, and then help my parents after school."

"School? You go to college near here?"

"Yup."

"Ok, cool.

"So what about you? What's your job?"

Nick wasn't sure how to answer that. He didn't want to lie so such a beautiful girl and hurt her. "I am a, um, salesman."

"What do you sell?"

"Oh, various things."

"Like what?"

 _Man! This girl really wants to know!_ Nick thought. "Pawpsicles, watches, and-"

"Pawpsicles and watches! Are you a con man?"

Nick thought this over a bit. "I guess you could say I am. But I guess you could say I'm not." Nick leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table.

Lucy chuckled. "You are crazy, Nick Wilde."

"Yeah. I kno—WOAH!" Nick had fallen backwards on the chair and landed on the floor with a loud crash.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" Luck asked, helping Nick up.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I've had a lot worse happen to me."

Lucy started laughing, making Nick chuckle, then both of them were laughing hysterically, which caught the stares of a few other customers.

"Well. Break is over. Have to get back to work. See you around I guess, Nick?"

"Yup. Bye then." Nick walked to the counter and payed for the coffee, then walked home.

.

The next afternoon, Nick was walking down the street with Finnick by his side.

"Alright. We are going to try to get a Jumbo Pop from the pachyderm café over there," Nick said, pointing to the opposite corner of Zorro Street.

"Alright," Finnick said, slipping the elephant costume on. "I hate this costume," Finnick mumbled.

"What did you say, son?" Nick said, smirking.

"You heard nothing!" Finnick said, pulling a knife on Nick.

"Heh. On edge today are we?"

"No! Just shut up and let's get this over with!"

The two foxes continued walking down the street, when Finnick turned around and saw Nick staring into a coffee shop window. Nick smiled and waved to someone inside, when Finnick walked up and grabbed Nick's paw and dragged him along.

.

Lucy chuckled when she saw Nick at the window, watching her. She smiled and waved at him, and he waved back, then his paw was grabbed by a small, what looked to be a child fox, and dragged out of view.

 _That guy's crazy,_ Lucy thought as she continued wiping a table, smiling in the process.

.

"What was that about?" Finnick asked in an angry tone.

"Just waving at a friend," Nick said.

"New girlfriend?"

"No, just, a friend."

"What's her name?"

"Lucy. I don't even know all that much about her, anyway. Besides, we're here."

Finnick stuck a pacifier in his mouth and started walking like a toddler as they walked into the ice cream café. They got in line behind a hippo and waited. Nick leaned down to Finnick and talked to him in a hushed tone.

"You'll have a good and happy birthday. Daddy promises," Nick said.

Finnick hugged Nick and whispered into his ear. "What the heck are you doing?"

Nick whispered into Finnick's ear. "Making it more believable! Come on!"

Finnick pulled out of the hug and looked at Nick with a look of anger in his eyes.

Nick chuckled and stood back up.

The hippo in front of the two left with her order, then Nick and Finnick went up to the counter.

"Hello! Down here!" Nick yelled.

The female rhino looked down at the two foxes. "What are you doing out during day hours?" she asked.

"I'm not here to cause trouble, I swear! I'm just here to get a jumbo pop for my son," Nick said, as Finnick wobbled around the floor around Nick.

"The law gives me the right to refuse service to anyone, you know."

"I know, I know. But my boy loves all things pachyderm. He wants to be one when he grows up, too. It's his birthday, too."

On cue, Finnick pulled the elephant hood over his face and gave a little toot.

"Isn't that just adorable?"

The rhino broke. She couldn't hold it in. "Aww! That's so cute! Pick a jumbo pop. Fifty percent off since it's his birthday!"

"Thank you so much! So kind!" Nick leaned down to Finnick. "What flavor do you want, buddy?"

Finnick pointed to the red cherry one, and the rhino handed one to Nick, who handed her a $10. "Keep the change," Nick said.

"Have a great birthday!" the rhino called back as they left.

"And you have a good day!" Nick said as he shut the door.

The two foxes walked down the street to Finnick's van.

.

Lucy was busy rearranging a table because some customers had combined two tables without permission. When she was nearly done, she saw Nick walk back by the window with the little fox beside him, and a jumbo pop over his shoulder. Lucy finished with the table, then took her apron off. There weren't any customers in the shop now, and the lunch rush wouldn't start for another two hours. Lucy put her apron on a chair, then followed Nick discretely from behind. She saw them go into an alley, then drive off in a red van with graphics on the sides and back.

Lucy got on her motor scooter and followed them to Sahara Square, where they put the jumbo pop on a roof, melted it, and let the liquid run down a drain pipe into jars. The little fox put these jars into the van. Nick took the stick and put it into the van and got in. When they drove off, she saw the little fox was driving, which confused her.

In Tundra Town, Lucy witnessed the two foxes make molds out of the little fox's pawprints in the snow, then pour the melted jumbo pop liquid into them, and adding a stick that they cut from the larger stick earlier. Once they were all frozen, they loaded them up into coolers and put them back in the van.

In Savannah Central, outside of the Lemming Brothers Insurance building, Nick set up a stand. Once the clock stroke 12, the lemmings walked out and Nick started swaying them towards him.

"Pawpsicles! Get your pawpsicles here!" Nick said.

Once one lemming bought one, they all bought one. Soon, all of the pawpsicles had been bought, and the little fox took all of the sticks the lemmings threw away and loaded them into the van.

Later, in Little Rodentia, Nick set down the discarded sticks down in a lumber yard and left a bill for the mice to pay.

Back in Savannah Central, Nick was giving the little fox some money. Then, he got into the van and drove off, leaving Nick standing there, with a pawpsicle in his mouth.

"So that's what you mean by a 'salesman,'" Lucy said.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart," Nick said.

"You are a sly fox, you know that?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, I have to get back to work. See you later, Nick!" Lucy said, getting back onto her motor scooter and driving off.

"Wait!" Nick said, running after her. Lucy stopped and looked back at Nick.

"Can I have your phone number?" Nick asked.

"Sure." Lucy wrote her number onto a piece of paper and handed it to Nick, who stuffed it into his shirt pocket.

"See you later!" Nick said, walking off.

Lucy smiled, then turned around and left.

 _Author's Note:_

 _This is my personal favorite chapter of them all._

 _I am working on a Zootopia and Back to the Future crossover, but I'm trying to focus on this story, then I can work more on it._


	9. A Date With Lucy

_Author's Note:_

 _Lyrics: Yours to Hold by Skillet. Please, if you can, listen to the song once it begins in the chapter. Apparently, I got so lost in how well the song fit in, I put too many lyrics in the chapter, thus requiring it to be changed. Since I can't put lyrics in, you need to hear the song to get the full effect._

 _Chapter 9: A Date With Lucy (21)_

Nick was thinking of Lucy. She was just so beautiful, Nick couldn't stop thinking of her. But Nick didn't know if this would be different than all the other romances he's had. He hoped it would come to something more than just a date, and that's it. He wanted her to be his real girlfriend; someone who would stay with him thick and thin, no matter what. "I'm not going to find out just sitting here," Nick said out loud as he picked up his phone. _(A/N: This is in 2003, before cell phones were very common.)_ He grabbed the paper Lucy had handed him the other day. He punched in the number and waited.

.

Lucy was sitting in her bedroom, thinking. Thinking about Nick. He seemed to be hiding his true self underneath his actions. Lucy believed he was not the mammal he made himself seem.

Almost as if on cue, Korey Cooper, Lucy's mom, opened the bedroom door. "Phone call for you, Lucy."

"Coming." Lucy walked over to where the phone was kept. She picked it up. "Hello, Lucy speaking."

" _Hey, Lucy."_

"Nick! I was just thinking of you!"

" _Yeah? What were you thinking about?"_

"Oh, just thinking about how cute you are," Lucy said, starting to wrap the phone cord around her finger.

" _I think you're cute, too."_

"Thank you."

" _I was thinking, do you think we can go on a date? Maybe on Friday night?"_

Lucy couldn't see it, but Nick was sweating his skin off. He was so uncomfortable, but he didn't understand why.

"I would love that! Would seven be ok?"

" _Yeah, that'll be fine. I'll pick you up at seven."_

"I'll see you then."

" _Ok, then. Goodnight, Lucy."_

"Goodnight, Nicolas."

Lucy put the phone back on the holder and turned around to see her mom standing in the doorway. "Who's that?"

"You know that nice fox I met the other day?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, he just asked me to go on a date with him."

"I hope you have a good time, then."

"Thanks, Mom."

.

"Ok, then. Goodnight, Lucy."

" _Goodnight, Nicolas."_

Nick hung up the phone and stretched out on his bed. He did it. He had asked her out. He just hoped he wouldn't freak out during the date itself. He nearly did just _asking_ her!

.

Friday came, and Nick spent the entire day getting ready. He took his one and only sport coat to the dry cleaners, he washed his car and cleaned the inside, and went to the barber shop to get a trim. By six thirty, he was done. He drove over to Cooper Flower Nursery.

"She said right behind the building, so, that house," Nick said to himself as he pulled up to the moderate two story house. He waited for her to come out.

Within five minutes, she did come out. She got in the car, and Nick pulled out.

"How are you doing tonight, Lucy?" Nick asked as he shifted from second to third gear, accelerating the car.

"I'm doing well. How about you?" Lucy replied.

"Good," Nick said as he shifted from third to fourth gear, accelerating more. "Would you like some music?

"Yes, that would be nice."

Nick turned the radio on.

" _This is KFOX 88.5, playing the songs you need, right now! And now, Yours to Hold."_

The song began with the singer singing the opening line, soon acompanied by an acoustic guitar playing a D chord, changing to a G the next measure. The B minor and A chords gave the song a sad, yet happy mood at the same time.

"So how's your college work going?" Nick asked.

"It's going very well. I am only a few hours away from getting my degree in music," Lucy replied.

"Music?"

"Yeah. I play guitar, piano, drums, bass… Just about any instrument you can name."

"Cool."

"I love this song. It's calming and relaxing," Lucy said.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Nick asked.

"Sort of."

Nick stopped the car.

"Why'd you stop?" Lucy asked.

"We're here," Nick said, unbuckling.

"Drat. Just as I was getting into the song."

The two walked into the restaurant and found a seat.

Nick was nervous. Not because he had never been on a date before, but because he actually was genuinely in love with Lucy. "So, um, I'm not sure what to talk about right now."

Lucy chuckled a bit. "Tell me about your family, then."

Nick cringed; just a tiny bit. "Well, my dad is in the army right now, and my mom and little sister are living in Okladensa."

"That's a bit of a long drive, huh?"

"That is an understatement, even though I've never even visited them there."

"When did they move there?"

Nick started feeling guilty, but he didn't show it. "Three years."

Lucy looked at him in surprise. "Three whole years?"

"Yeah, I have too much to do to visit lately." When in reality, Nick had nothing to do.

Lucy felt sad for Nick's family. It's likely they've never seen him since he moved out, which, unbeknownst to Lucy, wasn't that far from the truth. "Why don't we go meet them?"

"Now?"

"Not now! I mean, like, when you have time. I'm sure I could skip a few days of class to meet them."

"I'm flattered, really. But I don't think now is the best time."

"Why not?"

"I really don't have the time. And why are you so concerned with my family?"

"Because," Lucy paused. "Like the song says, I am yours to hold." Lucy leaned in and kissed Nick on the lips. Nick didn't fight back, but he wasn't paying attention that they had leaned so close to each other during their conversation, either.

When Lucy pulled back, she looked at Nick with a twinkle in her eye. Nick hadn't seen someone look at him like that since he took Dian to the party.

"I think I love you, Nick Wilde."

"I think so too, Lucy Cooper." Nick leaned in for another kiss, which Lucy gave gladly.

 _Author's Note:_

 _This is one of my favorite chapters thus far. The song seems to fit in very well, giving it a nice mood. Nick wants someone to be there for him, and Lucy sees his pains. Again, I put too many lyrics, so I cut them all out._


	10. Picnic - Jack Savage

_Author's Note:_

 _Sorry for not updating sooner. Life's BZRK, ya know? Ha ha! (Family Force 5 song title for those who don't know.) Anyway, this chapter is nearly two thousand words long. That'll make up for not updating, right?_

 _Chapter 10: Picnic (22) – Jack Savage (20)_

 _(Nick)_

It had been two months since Nick had proposed. It was quite the occasion for both him and Lucy.

Nick had taken Lucy to Savannah Central Park, and they went for a walk. Nick had taken her to the hill that overlooked the Watering Hole. It was the best place for a picnic. Nick waited for what seemed like forever before he asked those four magical words, "Will you marry me?" Nick had sat on the ground for several minutes before Lucy even responded. She responded with a "Yes" and Nick smiled and embraced her.

But that was a while ago. Now it's a month after the wedding.

The wedding was held at the church Nick and his parents had attended when he was younger. When Lucy was walked down the aisle, Nick fell in love with her all over again. It's more of an overused cliché to say that, but it's true.

Nick's parents were there, and that is getting close to the last time he ever sees them. Viki was the flower girl, too

The honeymoon was on a Caribbean cruise.

What Lucy never thinks about is where Nick keeps getting his money.

The two newlyweds moved into Nick's apartment before they could move into a bigger apartment. There, they were happy. Or—mostly happy. You see, they loved each other, but they argued quite a bit.

Lucy would usually end the argument by storming out the door.

Despite all these arguments, they had their happy moments.

.

"Hey Nick?" Lucy asked one day.

"Yeah?" Nick replied, looking up from the book he was reading.

"Can we go to the countryside sometime?"

"Like, Bunnyburrow?"

"Yeah! I've always wanted to see a real farm."

"Ok. Let's go tomorrow. I've wanted to see a farm, too."

.

The next day, they packed a few things for a picnic out in the country, far away from the big city. The drive was long, (three hours) but they got there. They listened to some "relaxing" driving music the whole way. ( _Untraveled Road_ by TFK, _Life is a Highway_ by Rascal Flats (One of the songs that shaped my childhood.), _Backseat Driver_ by TobyMac, _Open Road Song_ by Eve6, among other similarly named songs)

Nick was nervous, but he didn't show it one bit. He didn't know how the bunnies would react to seeing two foxes.

Nick parked the car at a park outside the town. Nick didn't feel like going into the town, and the park was empty of bunnies.

Lucy unpacked the basket and got everything ready to eat. Soon, the two were sitting on a blanket eating sandwiches and chips.

"The countryside is very relaxing, isn't it, Nicky?" Lucy stated.

Nick looked around and took in the calm surroundings for a minute. "Yes. It is very relaxing. The air is clean, the birds are singing, and the field is full of… something growing."

"A field?"

"Yeah. Just beyond the border fence of the park is a field. I don't know what's planted in it, though."

"Come on! Let's find out!" Lucy said as she got up and walked towards the fence. Nick followed her to the fence, but Lucy climbed over the fence.

"I don't think you should do that," Nick said, afraid of what a bunny would do if they found a fox in their field. Then, memories of the events before Archie died flashed through his mind, and he started hyperventilating. He managed to calm himself down quickly, though.

"Nobody's around. It doesn't matter."

Nick climbed over the fence and crouched next to Lucy, the two looking at the plants closer.

"They're strawberries!" Lucy said, pulling a ripe strawberry off the plant. "And ripe for harvest, too."

"Let's gather a few to eat on the way home," Nick said, pulling his handkerchief out of his back pocket, putting some strawberries in it.

"I think these will taste _so_ good dipped in choco—"

 _BLAM!_

"—late."

The leaves in the trees above the two foxes were shaking. Nick slowly turned around to see a bunny with a shotgun in the back of a truck.

"Crap! Get back to the car, Lucy!"

"Get back here you little red devils!" the bunny yelled.

They start running, and another shot flies over their heads.

"You no good foxes stealing my strawberries! I'll teach you!" the bunny yelled as another shot flies over their heads.

 _He is either a terrible shot, or he's not trying to hit us,_ Nick thought. _I'll go with the second, but the first is very much possible, and he could be trying to kill us!_

Nick and Lucy jumped into the car. Nick started the car and put the car in first and let go of the clutch as fast as he would push it. Thus, making the car do a small wheelie as it shot forward. (It is a muscle car with a manual after all. Muscle cars with manuals do wheelies like a boss when you do it right.)

"Nick! He's following us!" Lucy shouted.

"Do you want to shoot back?" Nick asked, offering Lucy his concealed-carry pistol.

Lucy looked at Nick with horror in her eyes.

"Ok, I guess not," Nick said, putting the pistol back in the door.

Suddenly, there is the sound of glass shattering—the bunny shot the rear window!

"What the heck!?" Nick yelled. "I like this car! Don't shoot at it!"

Another shot, and BBs imbed themselves into the radio screen.

"That was too close!" Nick said as he turned the car sharply to the left.

"Nick! I'm scared!" Lucy said, reaching to hug Nick, but Nick stopped her.

"If he shots with you leaning over the console, your brains are going to be all over the windshield; so stay over there for now, ok?" Nick said.

"Yeah. Good call."

Nick swerved the car into a clearing at the edge of the wood and turned the car off.

"Let's hope he is just a dumb bunny," Nick whispered.

Soon enough, the truck sped by, not stopping to get at them.

"Let's go!" Lucy whispered.

"We need to wait a minute to make sure he's gone," Nick said, listening for a minute. "He's gone."

Nick started the car and drove back to the highway.

.

Once he got onto the highway, Lucy started sobbing. "This is all my fault! I shouldn't have went into the farmer's field! I almost got us killed!"

"Yeah, it is kind of your fault," Nick mumbled.

"What!?"

"Hey! You said it first!"

Lucy sobbed more. "It is my fault!"

"Would you please stop that?"

Lucy stopped sobbing, but silently cried and looked away from Nick.

"Hey, I'm sorry I made you feel bad. If it makes you feel better, I'll stop at the next rest stop and get some ice cream."

Lucy looked back at Nick. "Ok," Lucy said in a weak voice, giving Nick a small smile.

 _(Judy)_

Judy was sitting in the shade of an oak tree in the Bunnyburrow Forest. She had been walking down the trail to think, but she stopped and sat on a log halfway through the path.

She was home from college. She was hoping to get at least bachelor in criminal law, or whatever it's called. She knew she couldn't finish the entire course, seeing as it's supposed to be a PhD. She doesn't have the time to do that.

She needs to go to the ZPD Academy as soon as possible. Her first application was rejected quickly, but that won't stop her. She was hoping Leo Lionheart will win the Zootopia mayoral election. He seems to favor smaller mammals in government jobs such as police.

Although Hillary Kitten is more popular, she seems a bit too… well, lots of things. Her husband was mayor a couple of decades ago, but he was impeached. Miraculously, he was not forced to resign. Judy's dad thinks Hillary had given the jury death threats to keep them under her control.

Judy really doesn't care for Kitten, but Judy doesn't live in Zootopia yet, so it doesn't bother her a lot yet. As long as she gets into the ZPD Academy, she'll be happy.

"Hi," said a voice, breaking Judy out of her thoughts.

Judy looked up, and saw a grey rabbit. He had three black stripes on each cheek, and his ear tips were black. He was quite handsome, too. "Hello."

"What's your name?" the rabbit asked.

"Hopps. Judy Hopps."

"I'm Savage. Jack Savage," the rabbit said, shaking Judy's paw.

"Nice to meet you, Jack. I haven't seen you around. Are you new here?"

"Nice to meet you too, Judy. Yes, I did move here. I'm from Zootopia."

Judy smiled. "I am going to move to Zootopia in a few years."

"Why?"

"I'm going to be a cop."

"That's a bit dangerous for a bunny, isn't it?"

Judy made a pouty face and crossed her arms. "Everyone says that! I'm not a little baby! I can handle myself. I did stand up to Gideon Grey after all!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset, I just, well, I guess I misjudged you."

"That's ok. I guess I'm a bit over protective of my dreams." Judy smiled at the rabbit. "Would you like to sit down?"

"Thank you," Jack said, sitting down next to Judy.

The two got into small talk, talking about the weather (as all small talk does…), family and friends, and other small talk stuff.

"I'm going to join the Marine Recon once I get the chance," Jack said.

"Wow! I know Marines are tough, but a Marine Recon must be super tough!" Judy said.

"Yeah. My grandpa was a Marine during WWII, and my dad fought in the Vietnam War."

"Cool. I think you would make a great Recon."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me. I think you'll make a good cop, Judy."

"Thank you. You are the first bunny to support me."

"I'm honored to be of help."

"Can I hug you? Would that be weird?"

"You can hug me. I don't mind."

Judy hugged Jack, and Jack hugged Judy.

"Thank you, Jack."

"You've told me like a hundred times."

"I'm just so grateful for your support." Judy pulled out of the hug. "I know you can't get me into the academy any sooner, but just knowing someone else cares means a lot. And I mean a _lot._ "

Jack smiled a Judy. "I'll always be here for you, Judy."

 _Author's Note:_

 _And Enter Savage. (That's supposed to be a parody of Metallica's song.) Jack Savage has been introduced as Judy's love interest, but she doesn't know it fully just yet! Jack is going to just be a minor character for now…_


	11. Return to the Big

_Author's Note:_

 _This will possibly be the last chapter I publish for all of June. First week, Super Summer at OBU. Next week, home, possibly being able to get one chapter out. Next week, Falls Creek, Yes! I love Falls Creek! Greatest summer camp of all time! This time I'm getting to go early because I'm the guitarist for our youth band. The last week, a couple of youth activities._

 _Chapter 11: Return to the Big (24)_

Nick walked down the sidewalk with Finnick by his side. He was happy because he had just made a killing off their latest hustle.

"That was awesome, dude!" Finnick said, slapping Nick on the back. "Your acting was Broadway worthy!"

"Thanks, man," Nick said.

Suddenly, a polar bear stepped in front of the two foxes. "Nicolas Wilde?" he asked in a thick Russian accent.

"Yes?"

"Come with me. Mr. Big has a job for you."

Nick and Finnick followed the polar bear to a limo. They got in the backseat and they rode to Mr. Big's home in Tundra Town.

"Ah! Nicky! It's so good to see you again! You too, little fox," Mr. Big said as they stepped into his office.

"What do you need today, Big?" Nick asked, eager to begin.

"I am redecorating my living room, and I need a new rug," Mr. Big said. "You have good taste in fashion." Mr. Big gestured to Nick's clothes. "It's unique and bold. Anyway, I want to buy a wool rug to put in my living room. Can you find one for me?"

"Yes, I can, and thank you for your compliment," Nick said.

"Hey! Don't I have good fashion!?" Finnick said, peering over the desktop.

"Meh. At least it's not repulsive," Mr. Big said.

Finnick crossed his arms and grumbled.

.

Later, the two foxes left, and they went to a restaurant for lunch.

"I see an opportunity!" Nick said in a singsong voice.

"What do you mean?" Finnick asked.

"Don't you see? Now is the time I can hustle Mr. Big and become _The_ _Greatest_!" Nick said gesturing with his hand at the title.

"Ok, but how? I don't see any opportunities."

"I know a guy who sells exotic rugs, and I think he has a rug that matches Mr. Big perfectly."

"Who?"

"You'll see!"

.

Nick took Finnick to what looked like once a motorcycle shop in an alleyway, but now had a hand painted sign that read: "Bob's Rugs."

"This is the place?" Finnick asked.

"Oh yeah. He has _the_ rug Mr. Big needs," Nick said.

Nick and Finnick walked into the building. "Konnichiwa!" Nick said as he entered.

"Konnichiwa, Nick!" Bob asked.

"So how's your new bamboo diet going? Does the diet bamboo work for you?"

"Eh. Not the best."

Nick elbowed Finnick. "You know pandas, always trying to lose weight!"

"Ain't that right!" Bob said, chuckling.

"So why did you greet each other in Japanese, when pandas are from China?" Finnick asked.

"Oh, I was born in China, but my parents moved to Japan, so I learned to speak Japanese before I learned Chinese," Bob said. "Chinese is my second language. If you want, we could greet each other again in Chinese…"

"No, that's fine."

"Anyway, I need to buy a rug," Nick said.

"Oh! A business trip today. I have just the thing," Bob said, walking into the back room. He walked back out a few minutes later with a rug. "How about this one?" Bob unrolled the rug where Nick could see it. "100% real faux wool rug! Hand-made with a sewing machine! Only 75% off today!"

"Why does the rug look like it was cut?" Nick asked.

"That's the 75% off!"

"Oh, that's a good one, Bob!"

"It'll be 90% off tomorrow."

"That'll be too small."

"Ok, I got another one for you." Bob walked back into the back room and brought out another rug. "This one is an expensive black wool rug, with a stripe down the middle!"

"Why does it stink so bad?" Finnick asked, holding his nose.

"That's its _essence_ ," Bob said as he sprayed air freshener on it.

"What is it really made of, Bob?" Nick asked. "I'm gonna con Mr. Big with it."

"Ooh! Sounds exciting. Well, it's made with the fur of a skunk…'s butt."

"That explains the smell," Finnick said.

"I'll take it!"

.

Finnick carried the rug (sprayed with enough air freshener to keep it smelling good for a day or two.) while Nick walked first into Mr. Big's office.

"Hello there, Mr. Big. I have the rug you requested," Nick said.

"Ah! I knew you wouldn't let me down, Nicky," Mr. Big said.

Finnick unrolled the rug so Mr. Big could see it.

"I like it. Put it in the living room over there."

Finnick put it there, and while nobody was watching, sprayed more air freshener on it.

"I see you have a ring on your paw, Nicky," Mr. Big said as Finnick walked back in.

"Yes. I have gotten married. She's been with me through some, uh, _tough_ stuff to say the least," Nick said, raising his drink Mr. Big had given him.

"That's a good thing, having a wife. She will stay with you through it all, and you will stay with her through it all, too," Mr. Big said.

"Yeah, but sometime you get under each other's skins!" Nick said, laughing.

"Ain't that the truth!" Mr. Big said, laughing as well.

.

Nick was chilling on the couch in his apartment while Lucy was out on a lunch date with her friends. He was humming along with the radio, which was playing _Million Dollar Man_ by Kutless. As the song was finishing, the phone rang. Nick turned the radio down and answered.

"Hello?" Nick answered, but there was nobody there. "Hello?" Nick asked again.

" _If you hang up before I'm done, I will get you,"_ said a voice from the other end.

"Who is this?" Nick asked.

" _That was a good stunt you pulled, selling me a skunk-butt rug. But the stench sure gave it away after a few days. Guess that makes you the greatest con mammal in Zootopia."_

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

" _No. I am telling you that if you go anywhere near me or anything I own, you will die. Understand?"_

"Yes, I do."

" _Good. See you later, or I should say, I hope I never see you again."_

The phone line went dead. Nick put the phone back on the holder. He was sweating. _He had a death threat on himself now!_

 _Better not to think about that,_ Nick thought.

 _Author's Note:_

 _I almost laughed out loud when I wrote Bob's sales pitches. It seems like something a con mammal who sells rug would say. And there is the last of June's chapters. See you in July!_


	12. The Fight that Ends It

_Author's Note:_

 _This chapter was easy to post, mainly because I had written it months ago. All I had to do was edit and add some stuff._

 _Chapter 12: The Fight that Ends It (26)_

"What is wrong with you!?" Nick yelled.

"Nothing! I am better than you!" Lucy yelled back.

"You roach! How dare you say you're better than me!?"

"You son of a roach! You're just a stuck-up, arrogant, pawpsicle-hustling, scruffy-looking, idiot with a stupid roach of a mother!"

Nick got mad and walked up to Lucy and shoved her to the ground. "Go die!"

Lucy started sobbing and ran out the door.

"Fine! Leave!" Nick yelled. Nick sat on the couch and sighed. He saw his wedding ring and took it off and threw it at the wall.

He tried to sleep, but the pain of the argument was too much.

Nick left a voicemail on Lucy's phone, he got so guilt-ridden.

"Lucy, I know I said things that I didn't mean, but you should have known me by now. If you believed what I said I'd be better off without you. And you never really knew me at all. You thought you knew the truth but you're wrong. I do love you. You're all that I need, just tell me that you still love me. Please talk to me."

 **Elsewhere…**

Lucy walked out of the apartment and walked to her car. There was a figure on the other side of the street in a car watching Lucy, though. The figure picked up a radio.

"Subject is leaving premises. Following in progress," the figure said in a feminine voice.

"Roger that, boss," said the mammal on the other end of the radio connection.

The mystery woman drove her car after Lucy, hoping to catch her.

 **Back Home…**

The next morning, Nick woke up on the floor of the apartment.

 _Oh, my back,_ Nick thought as he stretched.

Nick walked into the kitchen, fully expecting Lucy to be there making coffee as usual, but she wasn't. Nick shrugged it off, not remembering last night.

As Nick was eating a Pawp Tart, he got a call on his phone.

"Nicolas Wilde here," Nick answered.

" _Hello. This is Detective Oats of the ZPD,"_ the voice on the other end said.

"Ok. What's this all about?"

Oats sighed. _"You are the husband of Lucy Cooper Wilde, correct?"_

"Yes."

" _Well, I've had to tell a few people this before, and it's always been difficult to do."_

"What?"

" _Lucy had been in a car wreck last night. Her car rolled off the side of an embankment, and she did not survive. I'm so very sorry."_

Nick was stunned. _Lucy was dead!?_ Then the memories of last night came flooding back. The argument, the slammed door in his face…

" _Me and my partner, Private Cobra, are working on an investigation. We'll let you know of anything that comes up."_

"No need, Detective. Call off the investigation. I don't want to know."

" _If you insist. You can view the body at the autopsy ward in the Savannah Central Community Hospital."_

"Thank you, Detective. Bye."

" _Bye."_

Once Nick set his phone down, he started sobbing.

 _It's all my fault! I never should have told her to go die! It's my fault she's dead!_ Nick thought.

 **Meanwhile…**

"If the stupid fox says call it off, then call it off!" Chief Bogo yelled.

"But sir, I had known Lucy at one time. She was a very sweet young vixen. If you won't let me find out more, I'll do it against your orders," Private Cobra said.

Jack "Cobra" London is a wolf who has several fur dyes on his back and head to look like the back of a king cobra, so everyone called him Cobra.

"You threaten insubordination?"

"Yes sir. I will do what I must."

Bogo smiled. "I like detectives like you. You may continue the investigation, but you are not getting payed for it."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't mention it. _That's_ an order. Also, make no record of what you find, and do not tell that _fox_ you are doing this."

"Yes sir."

"That Wilde fellow has quite a collection of traffic tickets, and he has been banned from several restaurants and stores.

"I understand, sir."

"Dismissed."

 _I hate foxes,_ Bogo thought.

 **Meanwhile…**

"What am I going to tell John and Korey?" Nick asked Finnick.

"Tell them she died in a car wreck," Finnick replied.

"I mean how! I will tell them how, but how would they react to me telling them their daughter died? They were coming over this weekend to see us, too!"

"Go to them first, before they come."

Nick sighed. "Ok. I'll try."

"No!" Finnick yelled. "Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try."

"Shut up, man."

Later, Nick was walking up to Cooper Flower Nursery, with a few items the doctors got from Lucy's body. A necklace, two bracelets, a watch, and her wedding ring. Nick opened the door, and a few customers were there. He walked up to the office door and knocked.

"Come in!" came a feminine voice from inside.

Nick opened the door and saw Korey, with glasses on, working on some paperwork. "Oh! Hello, Nick. What are you doing here?"

"I came to give you some things back." Nick handed Korey the paper sack with the items.

Korey stood up, opened the bag and pulled out the necklace. "This is the necklace I gave Lucy on her eighteenth birthday. Why are you bringing this back?"

Nick choked on his words as he said them. "Lucy was in, a, um, accident."

"What kind of accident? _GASP!_ Is she hurt?"

"No. She's not hurt." Nick didn't know how to continue. "She's better than ever."

"Oh! That's a relief. Is she back home?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

"Nick. You're not telling me everything, are you?"

Nick couldn't hold it in any longer. "You may want to sit down for this." Korey sat down and looked at Nick. "Lucy… was killed… in a car… accident last… night."

Korey gasped and stood up and hugged Nick as she started sobbing uncontrollably, as a lone tear rolled down the face of Nick.

"What's going on in here?" asked John as he entered.

"Lucy's dead!" Korey sobbed as she ran up to John.

John was stunned. "Lucy? Our only child?"

"I'm so sorry," Nick said. "It's my fault."

"What do you mean?" John asked, tears flowing down his face.

"I… We…" Nick didn't know where to start.

"Don't bother. We'll ask you more later," John said as he and Korey went into John's office, leaving Nick in the room alone. Nick wiped his eyes and left the room.

 _Author's Note:_

 _And there is the last chapter of June. This time it really is._

 _Stay tuned for next time, when Nick goes to see his mom for the first time in four years!_


	13. Home on the Range

_Author's Note:_

 _I'm back! Falls Creek was awesome! I saw my friend get saved and Mike Romero (the music leader for the week) came and saw us perform in the cabin and said we were one of the best youth-led bands he's ever seen!_

 _Listen to Don't Wake Me by Skillet if possible while reading. It captures the feelings of Nick after the "tragedy" very well. Personally, I like the Pull Remix better. It adds depth and extra oomph to the song._

 _Chapter 13: Home on the Range (26)_

Nick didn't know what to do. He was all alone in his apartment. It was the day after Lucy's death, and Nick is lost. He was sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the photos sitting on the coffee table—their first date, their wedding, their honeymoon, their first anniversary, and more—all painful memories now.

That night, Nick barely slept. When he did sleep, he dreamt of Lucy coming to tell him how he failed her. Eventually, he started dreaming of the good times they had together. When he had these, he didn't want to wake up.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

 _(A/N: Nick had recently gotten a Motorola Razr cell phone. Look it up if you don't know what it is. It was the iPhone before the iPhone, it was that popular.)_

Nick picked the phone off of the bedside table and flipped it open and held it to his ear. "Don't wake me, 'cause I don't want to leave this dream," Nick said.

" _Nick? You're not even going to tell your mother hello?"_ the voice at the other end of the line said.

"Oh, sorry. I was asleep."

" _Asleep? It's 2 in the afternoon!"_

"Well, it's been a long and… uh, stressful to say the least, last few days."

" _I know what you mean."_

 _Does she know about Lucy?_ "Well, I was about to get up anyway. What'd you call for?"

" _I just wanted to invite you and Lucy to come over sometime, if you're not busy of course."_

Nick paused. What should he say? "Well, I guess I could come tomorrow…"

" _Great! I'll see you two then! Bye!"_

"Bye."

Nick closed the phone and set it back on the table.

"Oh, Nick. What have you done with your life?" Nick asked himself out loud.

.

Nick got onto the train to go to Webbers Dens, Okladensa at six in the morning. He wasn't looking forward to this visit.

 _Come on, Mom! Couldn't you have picked maybe a week ago?_ Nick thought.

Nick got off the train at the station and walked to his parent's house. He knocked on the door, hoping beyond hope nobody was home.

The door opened and Viki ran out the door and hugged Nick.

"So much for that hope," Nick said.

"What?" Viki asked, releasing Nick from her hold.

"Nothing. Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh yeah. I missed you so much!" Viki said, wrapping her arms around Nick's neck once again.

"I missed you, too, little sis," Nick said, wrapping his arms around his fifteen-year-old sister.

"Where's Lucy?" Viki asked.

"Let's get inside and I'll tell you."

Nick walked in and set his bag by the stairwell.

"My son!" Marie said as she came up and hugged Nick.

"How's it going, Mom?" Nick asked.

"It's great! Life has turned around for us, Nicky!"

"I see that," Nick said, looking around at the two-story house. "Very nice pad, Mom."

"Thank you."

"By the way, where's Dad? He's not in the Army anymore, isn't he?"

"Oh, he's in Europe. He's gotten a job with a telecommunications company, and he's been in Germany for the past month. He would have loved to see you, but he can't come just yet."

"Ok. Making good money?"

"Oh, yes! We have so much more than when you were Viki's age."

"She deserves better than me," Nick said, looking at Viki, who smiled.

"I met a guy in school," Viki said, blushing slightly.

"Really, who?"

"His name is Jim, and he's really nice."

"Well tell him I'm watching him," Nick said, smirking.

Viki giggled.

"Why don't we sit down on the couch and catch up with everything?" Marie suggested, walking towards the living room. "Oh, and where's Lucy?"

"Oh, she's um… sick and couldn't come."

"Oh, too bad. Maybe she can come next time."

"Yeah, maybe next time…"

Nick sat down on the couch across from Marie, while Viki sat next to Nick.

"So how are you and Lucy making it in the big city all alone?" Marie asked.

Nick fought back the tears at the third mention of Lucy. "Good."

"So I heard that Lucy recently got an offer from a record label to sell her music."

Nick had to fight hard not to break out in tears. She was doing what she loved, but Nick had to ruin it for her. "Yeah, she did."

"So, when can I expect my first grandchild?"

That broke Nick. "What?" Nick asked in an angry tone.

"I said—"

"I heard what you said! I'm just sick of you wanting a grandchild! It's gonna be hard to do that, you know!"

"Nick, please calm down. It was just a question—"

"No! You listen! You are not getting a grandchild from me anytime soon! You wanna know why? Because Lucy died in a car wreck the other night! That's right, she's _dead!_ " As soon as Nick said that, he felt bad about his mom finding out about it this way.

Marie had her paws over her mouth, and tears were welling up. "I'm so sorry, Nick," she breathed.

"Don't be. It was my fault anyway. I didn't want you to find out like this."

Marie got up and went to hug Nick, but he pushed her away. "I need some time alone," Nick said, walking out the front door.

Nick walked to the Arkenpaws River than ran near the house. Nick sat down on the bank, tossing rocks into it every so often.

 _I'm so sorry Lucy. You were so close to getting where you wanted in life_ , Nick thought. _I just had to mess it up for you. Just like I messed up Dian's life. I can never get a relationship right._

Nick heard someone walk up from behind him. He didn't look back. "Mom, if you want to talk, I don't want to," Nick said.

"I'm not Mom," Viki said, sitting beside Nick.

"Hey, Vic."

"You really made Mom upset back there, you know."

"I don't want to talk about it. You're only fifteen. You wouldn't understand what I'm going through."

"No, I don't understand what you are going through, but I know how to learn." Viki smirked a bit. "Let's talk about what you're going through."

Nick sighed. "I feel like a complete failure. I ruined two relationships and tore a family apart. All because I wanted my way. I never think things through when it comes to relationships."

"So, you think you ruined everything because you're selfish?"

"I guess that's one way to put it."

"Then don't be selfish."

"Vic! I have built up who I am over a period of almost sixteen years. I can't just change suddenly!"

"Better late than never."

Nick stopped and looked at his little sister. She smiled and a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Nick hugged her. "I'm sorry," Nick said.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault."

Back in the house, Marie was watching Nick and Viki talk. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she knew what it was about. When she saw Nick hug Viki, she started silently crying.

 _Why won't Nick love me the same way he loves his sister?_ Marie thought as she sat back down on the couch.

 _Author's Note:_

 _Right in the feels :_(_

 _This is such a sad chapter, I almost cried myself. I'm putting myself too much into my stories, I'm hurting myself emotionally sometimes._

 _Why do I keep getting Oh! Gravity by Switchfoot in my head so often?_

 _Anyways, Favorite, Follow, and Review! (FFR for short.)_


	14. Arrested - The Academy

_Author's Note:_

 _Two chapters in one day!_

 _Come on people. I need more reviews! I love reviews, and I find it a sign that I'm doing something wrong when I don't get reviews. So please review more often. It's just a suggestion. At least give me a review telling me if I'm doing something wrong._

 _Chapter 14: The ZPD (28) – The Academy (24)_

Nick was standing outside the Mystic Springs Oasis, selling pawpsicles to the mammals coming out. Out came an otter who looked like he was sweltering.

"Hello there, good sir!" Nick said, hopping over the cooler to get the otter's attention. "I see you look hot. Would you like a pawpsicle to cool off your tongue?"

"Oh! I guess that would be nice! What's the price?" the otter asked.

"Two bucks, Mr.…"

"Emmitt Otterton. And you are?"

"Wilde. Nick Wilde. And here's your pawpsicle, Emmitt."

"Thank you, and good day!"

Nick sat down on his lawn chair and waited for the next customer, when a shadow covered him. He opened his eyes and saw a tan-colored wolf standing over him.

"Hello, sir!" Nick said, standing up. "Would you like to get a pawpsicle to cool your muzzle?"

"I'd like to see your credentials," the wolf said.

"My what?"

"Your papers that allow you to sell. Where are they? I need to see them."

"Why?"

"Because…" The wolf pulled his wallet out and flipped it open, revealing a ZPD wallet badge. "I am Officer Snarlof of the ZPD. And if you don't have the papers, I need to arrest you."

"Fine. I'll go willingly," Nick said, sticking his arms out so Officer Snarlof could pawcuff him.

.

Nick was taken to Precinct One so he could be processed. He was set in the waiting room outside the lawyer who worked at Precinct One.

"Come in," came a voice from inside. Snarlof walked Nick into the office, where a large redwood desk sat in the middle, and a sharp dressed deer buck sat at the other end.

"Redwood. _Without_ a space," Nick mumbled.

"What did you say?" Snarlof asked.

"Nothing, just talking to myself."

"Sit down," said the buck. "I am Barry Buckskin, and I am here to resolve your little problem with the ZPD."

"I'm listening," Nick said.

"So it seems you were selling… pawpsicles—of all things—without a permit. And it seems we've gotten complaints about some lumber being delivered to Little Rodentia. The lumber is… sticky."

"You have proof I did the first, but you can't prove I am responsible for the second."

"The workers described the mammal delivering the lumber as a fox matching your description."

"Ok, but what's so bad about sticky wood? Wouldn't that make the building stronger?"

"To an extent, yes. But using it to build is extremely difficult. Especially if you are a rodent that small."

"So… I need to clean the wood before I sell it?"

"Yes. And you need to get a permit to sell building materials."

"Then I will apply for those two permits I need."

"We will let you do that. That's the 'resolving your problem with the ZPD' part," the buck said handing Nick two papers. "You can go to the waiting area as you fill those out. You can give them to Officer Snarlof to give them to me when you're done."

"Ok then," Nick said as he walked out of the office.

Nick sat down and started filling out the forms.

In the office, the buck was talking to Snarlof.

"I don't trust him," the buck said.

"I don't either, but he does have rights," Snarlof replied.

"I know. Maybe we should make a petition where foxes get fewer rights?"

"And you're a lawyer?"

"I know, I know. That's a bit specist."

"A bit? Ha! There's a 'no discrimination' policy at the ZPD you know."

Nick then walked in, unbeknownst to the two in the office, Nick had heard everything they said.

"Here's the papers. I really need to get going, so could you mail me the permits?" Nick asked.

"Yes, we can do that as long as your mailing address is—oh, I see it here on the paper. You can leave now," the buck said, picking the papers up and looking at them.

"So I guess I shall bid you adieu," Nick said as he walked out.

 _(Judy)_

"Don't go, Judy!" pleaded Jack Savage as he and Judy walked onto the train platform in Bunnyburrow.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but I cannot avoid following my dreams," Judy said.

"Then you will be waiting for me when I return?"

"Yes, Jack. I will wait for you."

"Then I shall wait for you, too," Jack said, stepping into the train. "And please don't go to the Police Academy. It's too dangerous for you."

"What about Boot Camp?"

"That's because I'm a buck rabbit."

Judy snorted. "Yeah right. I'm sure I could pass Boot Camp faster than you."

"Bye!" Jack said as the doors closed.

"Goodbye!" Judy said, waving as the train sped off.

.

A few months later, Judy was boarding the train herself to go to the Zootopia Police Academy. All of her little siblings were on the platform to say goodbye. Her parents were there, too.

"Judy, I'm proud of you for making it this far. You've gone farther than any bunny has ever dared," Stu said.

"Thanks, Dad," Judy said.

"I'm still scared, but I think you can manage," Bon said.

"I'll be fine, Mom."

"Call us when you get there, Judy!" Bon said.

Just then, the train pulled up. Judy got on board as she said her goodbyes.

.

"Listen up Cadets!" yelled the female polar bear during orientation. She always seemed like she was yelling. "Zootopia has twelve unique ecosystems within its city limits! Tundratown! Sahara Square! Rainforest District, to name a few! You're gonna have to master all of them before you hit the streets! Or guess what?" the trainer leaned towards Judy. "You'll be dead!"

Everyone got lined up at one end of the Sahara Square simulator, and the trainer turned on large fans at on end to simulate a sandstorm.

"Scorching sandstorm!"

Judy crawled as hard as possible, but the wind was too much. Suddenly, the wind blew a bunch of sand, covering Judy completely—except for her cotton-ball of a tail.

"You're dead, Bunny Bumpkin!"

Next up, the Rainforest District simulator, where everyone needed to do monkey bars over a mud-pit.

"One-thousand foot fall!"

Almost as soon as the trainer said that, Judy slipped and fell down face-first into the mud.

"You're dead, Carrot Face!"

Next up, scaling a giant ice wall in the Tundratown simulator.

"Frigid ice wall!"

Judy couldn't get up much more than a meter before falling into the frigid ice water at the bottom.

"You're dead, Farm Girl!"

 _(A/N: Why do people call someone a farm girl or farm boy to insult them? Is there something wrong with raising the food you eat? What if all the farmers quit? What would you eat? I am a farm boy, and if someone called me that, I would take it as a compliment. It just always puzzled me as to why that was done. Sorry for my rant. Continue reading.)_

Finally, a sparring match. Judy was up against a rhino pretending to be a criminal.

"Enormous criminal!"

Judy ran head-first into the fight and got knocked out pretty quickly.

"You're dead!"

Judy also failed climbing rope, cruiser driving, and other various assignments.

At the end of the day, Judy went to the restroom, but the toilet was so big, she fell in!

"Filthy toilet! You're dead, Fluff Butt!" the trainer yelled, who just _happened_ to be in the next stall over.

Judy took a run during the evening out on the parade ground. Voices of the past were running through her head.

" _Just quit and go home, Fuzzy Bunny!"_ said the drill instructor.

" _There's never been a bunny cop,"_ said Stu.

" _Never!"_ said Bon.

" _Never!"_ said Stu.

" _Just a stupid carrot-farming dumb bunny!"_ said Gideon Grey.

But during the night, Judy was trying to improve herself. She would never quit.

 **The next day…**

The Cadets were redoing the previous day's assignments.

Judy made a plan. She ran as fast as she could towards the ice wall. She jumped onto the heads of the other mammals who were climbing, so she could get across.

The drill instructor was impressed and smiled.

At the sparring ring, Judy dodged all of the rhino's attacks, until she could get to the edge. She used the ropes to launch herself towards the rhino's face, then kicking his fist to knock himself out.

 **Several months later, at the graduation ceremony…**

"As mayor of Zootopia, I am proud to announce that my Mammal Inclusion Initiative has produced its first police academy graduate. Valedictorian of her class, ZPD's very first rabbit officer, Judy Hopps!"

As Judy walked onto the stage, she could hear her family cheering for her, except for Stu, who was sobbing.

Mayor Lionheart cleared his throat as he leaned down to his sheep assistant. "Assistant Mayor Bellwether, her badge?"

"Oh! Yes, yes of course!" Bellwether said as she pinned the badge to Judy's chest.

"Thank you," Lionheart said.

Judy stood tall as Lionheart began to address her.

"Judy, it is my great privilege to officially assign you to the heart of Zootopia. Precinct One: City Center."

"Congratulations, Officer Hopps," Bellwether said.

"I won't let you down." Judy said. "This has been my dream since I was a kid."

"You know, it's a real proud day for us little guys."

"Bellwether, make room, will ya? Come on," Lionheart said as he shoved Bellwether out of his way, standing beside Judy. "Ok, Officer Hopps. Let's see those teeth."

Photographers started taking pictures for newspapers and the news programs.

 _Author's Note:_

 _That's the end of Judy's story. It will continue in the next full-length story I publish, which will be a first-person recreation of the movie Zootopia. It will give more details in areas I feel need more depth._


	15. Independence Day Plan

_Author's Note:_

 _The second to last chapter. :_( But don't worry, I'm working on the next story!_

 _Chapter 15: Independence Day Plan (32)_

Nick walked around the block several times. He had his paws in his pockets and he was looking down. Independence Day was tomorrow, and he and Finnick had a plan. As he was walking, Finnick's van pulled up beside Nick. The driver's window rolled down.

"Yo! I got the stuff for tomorrow night!" Finnick said.

"Alright. Now we just need to get the stuff set up," Nick said.

"I'll start working on that. You just get your part ready."

"I'm working on it."

"Man! This is going to be _lit_!" Finnick rolled the window up and drove off.

Nick went back to his apartment and started gathering some things.

.

The next day was July 4th. The day every American citizen loves. There was a huge party going on in Savannah Central Park. There was going to be the biggest fireworks display Zootopia has ever seen once it got dark. Nick and Finnick were hanging out at the picnic benches, making plans for their next Jumbo Pop hustle they would do next week.

Once it got dark, Mayor Lionheart got up onto the stage.

"Attention everybody! The fireworks will begin in thirty minutes. So don't go anywhere!"

Nick watched Lionheart get down from the stage, before looking at Finnick and nodding.

They got up and walked out of the park. They went to an alleyway where Finnick's van was parked. The van had large speakers strapped to the roof. They got into the van and drove into the park. They drove in front of the stage, and Nick got on top of the van. _Star-Spangled Banner_ by Hendrix started blaring out of the speakers, making everyone look in the direction of the van. Nick cleared his throat as he held a microphone to his mouth.

"I am a citizen of this great country, as all of you are. America has freedoms that few other places have. We have the right to vote for our leaders. We have the right to freely practice religion. We even have the right to private property! But my favorite rights are the first and second amendments."

Nick picked up a book and held it in the air.

"The right to free speech! It gives me the right to publish my journal, with its observations on life and others, and nobody can stop me."

A few old Baptists said "Amen!"

Nick set it down and picked up a Turf gun.

"The right to bear arms! Although this is only a toy, I could have a real gun here if I wanted. I have a license, and the government cannot take my rights away!"

The same old Baptists said "Amen!" again.

"Remember to thank all of the veterans who gave us those rights, and fight to protect them!"

Several people started clapping.

"I love America!" Nick started shouting, just as the fireworks began. Finnick turned the volume up on the speakers so the music was deafening.

Finnick had his eyes closed and the windows rolled up as he listened to the music.

ZPD Chief Bogo walked up the van and looked up at Nick. "Get out of here!" Bogo demanded.

"What? Get a sphere?" Nick yelled back.

"I said, get out of here!"

"Get out a fear?"

"Never mind!" Bogo tapped on the driver's side window of the van. Finnick opened his eyes and rolled the window down.

"Yes?" Finnick asked.

"What is this?" Bogo asked, visibly starting to get mad.

"It's the right to free speech and patriotism. We've done nothing illegal," Finnick said, leaning back in his seat.

Bogo huffed, then smiled. "But you still _have_ to submit to the cops."

"Well, you've got us there." Finnick turned the music off. "Yo Nick! Pack it up, we're leaving!"

Nick jumped off the roof of the van and climbed in the passenger seat. "See ya later, Chief!" Finnick said as he drove off.

Bogo watched every move the van made as it wove its way out of the park and down the street.

"I hate foxes," Bogo muttered under his breath.

"I don't know. I would've done the same thing," Officer Wolfard said as he stepped beside Bogo.

Bogo looked at him.

"Hey! Free speech!"

Bogo huffed and walked off, muttering under his breath.

 _Author's Note:_

 _Ok, so it's a short chapter, and it probably has no meaning to any non-American readers. Speaking of non-Americans, I have always wanted to visit Canada, Germany, Israel, and the UK._

 _Anyway, Next chapter is the last one._

 _Remember to FFR!_


	16. Relaxation

_Author's Note:_

 _Since this is the last chapter, I'm going to cram as many jokes (fourth wall-related and not) as I could. I was in a joking mood when I wrote it._

 _Chapter 16: Relaxation (32)_

Nick sat down on his couch. Finnick walked in from the kitchen. He was holding a large bowl with popcorn.

"What movie are we gonna watch today?" Finnick asked, setting the bowl on the coffee table.

"I was thinking about Paw Wars," Nick said, opening his movie cabinet.

"I never knew you had this many movies!" Finnick exclaimed as he saw the huge collection.

"Haven't you ever wondered how I know so many good one-liners?"

"Heh. Makes sense now."

"Which Paw Wars do you want to see? _The Phantom Flea Menace_? _A New Dope_?"

"How about _The Empire Strikes Gold_?" Finnick said, observing the movie cases.

"Good choice. Classic comedy."

"Wait! I thought this was Paw Wars. It's not a comedy."

"You're thinking of _Star_ Wars. _Paw_ Wars is the comedy version."

"Why does the comedy version have an animal-pun name?"

"Even though most real-life brands are made into Zootopian versions, the author prefers the real name _Star Wars_ than any others."

"Oh, ok."

The two friends sat down to watch the movie.

Luke Landwalker was the hero, along with his friends Princess Leia Oregano and Han Polo, and his droids Arr2-D2 and Sea-3PO the pirate droids. The villain was Darth Tater and his master, Emperor Poopatine.

After the movie, the two went for a walk around Zootopia.

"You know," Finnick said. "I'm actually a bit disappointed with where this story ended up. It started strong, then fell apart after you confronted your mom."

"Yeah, I agree. The author got a bit lazy after that," Nick said. "He had big plans, then they fell apart, what with three church camps right after another."

"Yeah, that'll take a toll off someone."

"At least he made several new friends for life."

"That's always good."

"Yeah, but even still, this story was a big letdown for the readers (who still haven't been reviewing it!)."

"Well, it is what it is," Finnick said, sitting down on a bench.

Nick looked straight at the readers and said: "Readers take note! The author has big plans, and this time, they'll be good! After a week long or so break, he'll release a first-person version of the movie Zootopia.

"And on August 26th, 2017, he will release The Rough Life of Nick Wilde, Second Edition. The second edition will be longer, better quality, and expanded with new scenes! They will be posted as replacements of the current chapters, so followers can't get updates. You'll need to check it yourself, but it should be updated every other day or so.

"Until then, review, favorite, and follow!"

 _Author's Note:_

 _Yeah, I think this story was a big letdown in my opinion. It was good for the first and second parts, but the third just fell apart. I want to hear you guys' opinions about this story._

 _Oh, and I plan to release a second edition of all my stories exactly one year after they've been published to fix all the mistakes and failures._

 _Take care and have a good rest of summer!_


End file.
